Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) beat Gujarat Titans in really dominant fashion in the IPL 2026 final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad last weekend, honestly.
Veteran batter Virat Kohli finished the chase in style as the defending champions secured their second IPL title in a row, and that meant another memorable campaign wrapped up nicely.
Even though young England batter Jordan Cox didn’t really get a proper chance to show up in RCB’s playing XI throughout the tournament, the 25-year-old recently said he did form a strong bond with Kohli during their two month stay together with the franchise.
RCB got Jordan Cox signed at his base price during the IPL 2026 auction, which took place in December. Still, when he arrived for what was supposed to be his maiden IPL season with big hopes, the English batter basically spent the entire tournament on the bench. He did not play a single match, which was kind of tough.
But even with zero game time, Cox said his stretch with RCB turned into a priceless kind of learning experience. He mentioned how he built a very close friendship with Virat Kohli, and how he really valued the opportunity to share a dressing room with one of today’s most prominent cricket icons.
In a conversation with ESPNCricinfo, the youngster credited the former India captain for regularly passing on helpful insights and advice during RCB’s training sessions.
Cox stated: “He will give you every single bit of information he has in his brain to try and help you, which for me was something that I didn't expect… For someone like that who's achieved everything you'd want to achieve in the game, he gives you everything.”
Beside Kohli, Cox also praised, sort of casually, fellow England cricketer Phil Salt. He said that both of those experienced players played a key role in sort of helping him, sharpen his approach while facing spin bowling.
Jordan added: “I've been lucky enough to bat with VK a few times in the nets, which has been pretty awesome. Even batting with Salty [Phil Salt], someone that's been the No. 1-ranked T20 batter in the world, to learn different types of shots and types of opportunities to take down bowling: I feel like my game [against] spin has gone to another level now.”
After being stuck on the sidelines for basically the entire IPL 2026 season, Cox has now come back to England. He is expected to turn out for England Lions in the upcoming One-Day series versus South Africa A, if all goes as planned.
The right hander will also try to push himself back into England’s senior squad for the forthcoming white-ball series against India, and then the Test series against Pakistan, once the 2026 Hundred season wraps up. Notably, Cox hasn’t really represented England at the international level for, what feels like, a while now since the T20I series in New Zealand last October.
RCB script history by winning IPL 2026:
Meanwhile, RCB outclassed Gujarat Titans by five wickets and had two overs left over in the IPL 2026 final. Kohli grabbed the Player of the Match award after smashing an unbeaten 75 off 42 deliveries, with nine fours, and three sixes. He also struck the winning shot, so yeah, it all landed perfectly.
Earlier, RCB’s bowling attack laid the foundation, for a win. Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up 2/29, Josh Hazlewood came back with 2/37 while Rasikh Salam starred with 3/27, to keep Gujarat Titans to 155/8 inside 20 overs. The victory sort of etched RCB’s name into the record books and that’s where it gets interesting. They became just the third franchise in IPL history to lift consecutive titles, joining Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in that rare, elite club.