The Indian Premier League 2026 drew curtains after the Royal Challengers Bengaluru lifted their second title by beating the Gujarat Titans in a one-sided final in Ahmedabad. From being chasers, RCB have turned into a beast of a side and have looked like the most complete team this season.
Celebrations galore after RCB's second-straight IPL win, and fans are still overwhelmed with joy. From returning empty hands for 17 straight seasons, RCB have now won two straight titles in what is being hailed by the franchise as their golden era.
The victory saw the likes of Krunal Pandya and Josh Hazlewood keep their unbeaten records in the finals intact. Pandya has not lost a single IPL final in his five attempts, while Hazlewood is unbeaten in six T20 showdowns, including the three IPL finals - two for RCB and one for CSK in 2021.
GT's five players remains winless for second time
However, it extended the unfortunate wait for some other players who continue to remain winless in the IPL finals. For Gujarat Titans, the wait continued for the likes of Jos Buttler, Prasidh Krishna, Kagiso Rabada, Sai Sudharsan and Washington Sundar.
All of the four have lost their second IPL final. Only Sudharsan has lost both these finals with the GT - one in 2023 and then in 2026. Buttler lost the IPL 2022 final for Rajasthan Royals, Sundar for Rising Pune Supergiant in 2017, Rabada for Delhi Capitals in 2020, and Krishna for RR in 2022.
India's T20 World Cup-winning vice-captain also winless
Apart from these four - Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohit Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, S Aravind, Lakshmipathy Balaji, AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Zaheer Khan, India's T20 World Cup-winning vice-captain of 2026 Axar Patel, Marcus Stoinis, Saurabh Tiwary and Jaydev Unadkat are the others who have played in multiple IPL finals but have lost all of them.
Chahal, Mohit and Tripathi lead the chart, having suffered defeats in three finals. All the other 10 players have suffered two IPL final losses. All in all 18 players have never won an IPL final after making multiple attempts. Notably, Axar lost the final for the Delhi Capitals in 2020 and for the then Kings XI Punjab in 2014.
Players to lose all IPL finals after multiple attempts:
Yuzvendra Chahal: Lost 3 out of 3
Mohit Sharma - Lost 3 out of 3
Tripathi - Lost 3 out of 3
Jos Buttler - Lost 2 out of 2
Kagiso Rabada - Lost 2 out of 2
Washington Sundar - Lost 2 out of 2
Prasidh Krishna - Lost 2 out of 2
Sai Sudharsan - Lost 2 out of 2
AB de Villiers - Lost 2 out of 2
Chris Gayle - Lost 2 out of 2
Shimron Hetmyer - Lost 2 out of 2
Zaheer Khan - Lost 2 out of 2
Axar Patel - Lost 2 out of 2
Marcus Stoinis - Lost 2 out of 2
S Tiwary - Lost 2 out of 2
Jaydev Unadkat - Lost 2 out of 2
S Aravind - Lost 2 out of 2
L Balaji - Lost 2 out of 2
ALSO READ | RCB's golden days: From being chasers to two-time winners, how Bengaluru built the champion team?
