A lot has happened since RCB's historic maiden IPL title triumph on June 3, 2025. The joy of ending their 18-year-old wait for an IPL title turned tragic when 11 fans died during RCB's title celebrations in Bengaluru.

RCB officials were arrested, police officers were suspended, the great Virat Kohli endured a public backlash and the iconic M Chinnaswamy Stadium was banned from hosting matches for nine months.

Yet, when the dust finally settled down, cricket brought joy back to the Garden City. RCB paid a heartfelt tribute to the 11 fans who passed away on that fateful evening, by leaving 11 seats at the stadium permanently empty as a lasting tribute.

Devdutt Padikkal Steals The Show For RCB

On the field, RCB were at their dominant and ruthless best.

Local boy Devdutt Padikkal stole the show with the bat. The 25-year-old picked up from right where he left last season with an entertaining half-century against SRH.

Last season too, it was Padikkal who had set the tone for RCB with the bat, smashing 247 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 150.61 before injuries cut short his tournament.

Key Points

• Devdutt Padikkal's 21-ball fifty is the second fastest by a RCB batter against SRH in the IPL.
• Jacob Duffy registered splendid figures of 3/22 on his IPL debut.
• Virat Kohli is the first batter in IPL history to tally 4000 runs or more when batting second.

Back from injury after the IPL last year, the 25-year-old set the domestic circuit on fire. He amassed 725 runs at an average of 90.62 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and tallied 543 runs at an average of 60.33 in the Ranji Trophy. Under his captaincy, Karnataka finished runners-up in the Ranji Trophy, losing to Jammu and Kashmir in the final in Hubbali.

He showed his batting prowess as an all-formats batter with his superb showing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20, where he piled up 309 runs at a strike rate of 167.02.

'Devdutt Padikkal is going to play a major role in RCB's success in IPL 2026. He has scored runs left, right and centre in domestic cricket across all formats. He looks like a very improved player. Devdutt Padikkal is a different, very confident player now,' former all-rounder Irfan Pathan had rightly predicted on JioStar ahead of IPL 2026.

Padikkal showed that new-found confidence immediately, starting off with a six off the very first ball he faced, flicking Jaydev Unadkat over square leg.

He helped RCB recover after the early dismissal of Phil Salt, as he took on the SRH bowlers in the Powerplay. He hit Nitish Kumar Reddy for a couple of fours before taking David Payne to the cleaners with two sixes and a four as RCB raced though in the fourth over.

King Kohli could only watch in pure admiration as Padikkal set the stage on fire. A lofted boundary down the ground off Harshal Patel saw the left-hander race past the 50-run mark off just 21 balls -- the second fastest by a RCB batter against SRH in the IPL.

He carted spinner Harsh Dubey for a four and a six before falling to the same bowler after an entertaining 61 from 26 balls which all but sealed the deal. His whirlwind partnership of 101 from 45 balls took the game away from SRH as the hosts cruised to an emphatic victory.

'It was an outstanding knock. right from the word go. When I saw him play, I just kept putting him back on strike and picked the odd boundary here and there. He completely took the game away from the opposition,' the great Kohli hailed his team-mate Padikkal.

Duffy Dazzles On Debut

New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy produced a dream debut as he ripped through SRH's top order.

Duffy, who was bought by RCB for his base price of Rs 2 crore, stepped up quite admirably in place of the injured Josh Hazlewood.

The 31-year-old was ranked the World No 1 T20 International bowler last year, while claiming a record 81 wickets in 36 matches across formats in international cricket in 2025 to break the legendary Richard Hadlee's four-decade old record (79 wickets in 23 matches) for the most wickets by a New Zealand bowler in a calendar year.

After being carted for a six in the first over by Abhishek Sharma, Duffy got sweet revenge as he dismissed the young opener in his next over. The short ball hurried into Abhishek, who could only top-edge the pull shot and was caught by wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma for seven.

In the same over, he accounted for another big wicket, when Travis Head pulled the short ball straight into the hands of Phil Salt at deep square leg. This was the third time in four innings that Duffy had accounted for Head's wicket overall in T20 cricket.

Duffy then struck again in his third over when he got the wicket of Nitish Kumar Reddy, who also miscued the pull shot.

Duffy's three overs in the Powerplay against the dangerous SRH batting line-up went for just 17 runs, including 12 dot balls. No wonder he was asked to bowled his four overs on the trot, and finished with splendid figures of 3/22.

Those early blows proved crucial as SRH were restricted to 201/9 in their 20 overs on an excellent batting pitch where RCB chased down the runs in just 15.4 overs.

He was rightly named the player of the match to cap a dream debut.

Kohli's Milestone Knock

Virat Kohli continued his eternal love affair with Bengaluru.

Kohli was playing a competitive match after more than two months, but RCB's talisman looked in sublime touch right from the start.

Getting off the mark with a boundary lofted over mid-off showed Kohli meant business. When Padikkal went on the attack, Kohli didn't just play second fiddle. He also made his presence felt by slamming Unadkat for a four and a six off successive deliveries in the fifth over.

Even though he hardly broke a sweat, the Kohli knock had all his trademark shots -- the whip over midwicket, towering straight boundaries down the ground and the elegant inside out lofted shots over the covers.

The standout moment of his champion knock was definitely the straight six off Eshan Malinga in the seventh over, taking full toll of an overpitched delivery on the stumps.

He was lucky to get a lifeline when Heinrich Klaasen put him down on 29 off Harshal Patel in the eighth over.

Kohli, at his fluent best, brought up his fifty from just 33 balls before he ended the match in explosive fashion. He took his former RCB team-mate to the cleaners, smashing 6, 4, 4, 4 off successive deliveries to seal the victory in grand style.

Kohli is the first batter in IPL history to tally 4000 runs or more when batting second, having massed 4027 runs in run chases.

Kohli (13612 runs in 415 T20 matches) also surpassed former Pakistan batter Shoaib Malik to become the sixth-highest run-getter in T20 cricket overall. Malik scored 13571 runs in 557 T20 matches.

Photographs: BCCI