Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Gujarat Titans (GT) will meet at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, May 31, for the IPL 2026 final. Both sides finished at the summit of the league table and have been the most consistent performers this season.
Former South Africa captain and RCB icon AB de Villiers has tipped Rajat Patidar to claim the Player of the Match award in the final. He also expects RCB captain to score at a strike rate exceeding 200.
Patidar earned the Player of the Match accolade in Qualifier 1, held at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala, where he scored an unbeaten 93 off 33 balls, hitting five fours and nine sixes. RCB posted 254/5 and dismissed GT for 162.
De Villiers also projected a solid half‑century for his former teammate Virat Kohli, who has recorded five fifties and one century this season, accumulating 600 runs in 15 innings at an average of 50 and a strike rate of 164.39.
In his final prediction, the 42‑year‑old said Rashid Khan would struggle, conceding over ten runs per over. Khan gave away 29 runs in three overs without a wicket in Qualifier 1 and was more expensive in Qualifier 2, leaking 45 runs in two overs. The Afghan spinner has been inconsistent this season, taking 19 wickets in 16 matches at an average of 25.84 and an economy of 9.29.