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Every sport has its curses. Baseball spent nearly a century haunted by the Curse of the Bambino. Football managers get the Mourinho third-season collapse. The NFL watches its Madden cover stars crumble with suspicious regularity.
And the IPL now seems to have built one of its own. Since 2022, the tournament has produced a brutal pattern for title-winning captains: lift the trophy one year, return to the final the next, and then lose at the last hurdle. It is not the usual defending-champion collapse, where a team falls apart early. This is worse in a sporting sense. These captains come close enough to see the trophy again, only to watch someone else take it away.
Now Rajat Patidar stands right in front of that pattern.
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain led RCB to a historic IPL 2025 title and has now taken them back to the final in 2026. On paper, that is a remarkable achievement. In the context of recent IPL history, it is also a warning sign. Hardik Pandya lived this exact script with Gujarat Titans. Shreyas Iyer lived it with Kolkata Knight Riders. Patidar now has the chance either to become the next name in that list or the man who finally breaks the loop.
The strange pattern since IPL 2022
The run began with Hardik Pandya. In 2022, he led Gujarat Titans to the title in their debut season, turning a new franchise into a composed, ruthless unit almost overnight. A year later, GT made the final again and looked close to defending their crown. Then came one of the most dramatic finishes in IPL history. Chennai Super Kings needed 10 off the final two balls, and Ravindra Jadeja hit Mohit Sharma for six and four to snatch the title away. Hardik had returned to the summit, but not as champion.
Then came Shreyas Iyer. In 2024, he captained Kolkata Knight Riders to the title with a team built on spin pressure, aggressive top-order batting and clear tactical identity. The next season, he guided KKR back to the final. Again, the defending captain had done the hard part. Again, the trophy slipped away. This time it was RCB, under Rajat Patidar, who stopped KKR and ended Bengaluru’s long wait for an IPL title.
That leaves the current equation: Hardik won in 2022 and lost the final in 2023. Shreyas won in 2024 and lost the final in 2025. Patidar won in 2025 and is now in the 2026 final.
It is a neat pattern. Too neat, maybe. But sport loves these little traps, especially when the pressure is already high.
RCB vs GT: Why Rajat Patidar has a real chance to break it
The difference this time is that RCB have not stumbled into the final. They reached it with authority. In Qualifier 1 at Dharamshala, Patidar’s side crushed Gujarat Titans by 92 runs, giving themselves a direct ticket to Ahmedabad and several days of rest before the final.
That matters. Since the IPL playoff format began in 2011, the team winning Qualifier 1 has often gone on to win the title. The reason is simple: rest, recovery and clarity. The losing finalist from Qualifier 2 has to fight through another knockout, travel again, and return quickly for the final.
Gujarat Titans have done exactly that. After losing heavily to RCB in Qualifier 1, they had to beat Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 to earn another shot. Shubman Gill made a brilliant century in that match, and GT will feel recharged by the win, but the physical and emotional load is real.
RCB also have the confidence of having already beaten GT in the playoffs. Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Phil Salt, Venkatesh Iyer and the bowling attack have all contributed across the season. This is not a one-man campaign. That gives Patidar something Hardik and Shreyas did not always have in their second final run: the feeling that his team is peaking at the exact right time.
RCB vs GT IPL 2026 final: The Ahmedabad Test for Rajat Patidar
RCB vs GT final, though, is at Narendra Modi Stadium, and that changes the conversation. Gujarat Titans know this ground better than anyone. Gill treats Ahmedabad like a second batting home, and his 104 in Qualifier 2 against RR was a reminder that he is not arriving quietly.
Tactical battle will begin with the toss. Ahmedabad under lights often brings dew into play, and chasing can become easier if the ball starts skidding. If Patidar wins the toss, RCB may prefer to chase. If they bat first, they will need a total big enough to survive Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler and GT’s finishing options.
Powerplay will be crucial. RCB cannot let Gill settle. He has been one of the strongest playoff batters in recent IPL history, and if he controls the first six overs, GT become a very different side. Patidar’s bowling changes, especially how he uses Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood and the back-of-a-length options, could decide whether RCB control the game or spend the night chasing it.
For Rajat Patidar personally, the stakes are huge. If RCB lose, the defending captain trend continues. If they win, he joins MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma as one of the very few captains to successfully defend an IPL crown.
That is the real story. Not superstition, not destiny, but pressure meeting opportunity. Rajat Patidar has already given RCB one title. Now he has one night to turn a strange IPL pattern into someone else’s problem.
Also READ: IPL 2026 final: Why Virat Kohli's 43 could calm RCB fans and 54 could terrify them in Ahmedabad
