For the IPL 2026 final, winning the trophy is not all. There will be many records that the two participating sides can rewrite on the biggest day of their season. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Gujarat Titans (GT), the defending champions and semi-finalists respectively, will square up in Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium for a final which can go down in history as being one of the most defining in the entire T20 league. With both teams boasting momentum, form and players out there chasing personal and team records, this match is bound to be much more than a mere title decider.

Indeed, what makes IPL 2026 even more exciting is the batting prowess seen by some of the best batsmen. The tournament is now home to the highest ever records of sixes hit, runs scored per over and also most instances of 200-plus totals scored in a T20 tournament. All this with just one more game to play.

RCB and GT Battle for Second IPL Title

The match also holds another important record for the franchises. While both RCB and GT seek their second IPL victory, the pressure will be more intense on one than the other. RCB seeks to become the third franchise in the tournament’s history to successfully defend their IPL title, having won the tournament in 2025. On the other hand, GT is looking to lift their second title within five seasons after their first championship win in 2022. The Ahmedabad location also provides yet another advantage for the franchises. Although GT have performed admirably in Ahmedabad with five wins out of seven games, RCB proved themselves stronger when they smashed GT by 92 runs in Qualifier 1.

The overall rivalry remains close. RCB lead the head-to-head record 5-4 across nine meetings. In Ahmedabad, both teams have won one match each from two encounters. They have also met three times in IPL 2026, with RCB winning twice and GT winning once. Those numbers make the final an even bigger test, with both teams carrying strong records into the title clash and a second IPL championship within touching distance.

RCB Chase Rare Back-to-Back IPL Titles

If RCB emerge victorious, then it would be joining an exclusive club. It would be the third IPL side in history to successfully defend its title. Only two sides in the history of the competition have managed to defend their championship titles thus far. CSK successfully defended its title in back-to-back editions in 2010 and 2011 under captaincy of MS Dhoni. MI managed to emulate the feat as well, when it successfully defended its title in back-to-back editions in 2019 and 2020 under captaincy of Rohit Sharma. Should RCB emerge victorious in Ahmedabad this year, then it will also be among the teams that defended their IPL title.

Patidar’s stint as captain has been very successful so far since he took charge of the team ahead of the 2025 season. Under his captaincy, RCB has won 19 out of 27 games so far, posting a winning percentage above 70%. Moreover, he also broke RCB’s 18-year jinx of winning the IPL title for the first time ever and he has led his team to the final twice consecutively already.

Orange Cap Contention

While there are multiple other individual storylines to look out for before the season's finale, the race for Orange Cap is by far the most interesting one. Despite being eliminated in the season's last game, young Vaibhav Sooryavanshi scored 776 runs in total for Rajasthan Royals. Nevertheless, the current captain of Gujarat Titans, Shubman Gill, needs just 55 runs to beat the tally, as he already scored 722 runs in the league.

The partner of Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, has scored 710 runs and needs 67 more runs to surpass the score. Both batters can join the list of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Robin Uthappa, who finished a season with Orange Cap and IPL Trophy.

Rabada and Bhuvneshwar in Purple Cap Battle

In the final of the Indian Premier League, the title will also be decided in relation to who gets awarded the coveted Purple Cap this year. Two bowlers who are neck to neck in terms of statistics in their pursuit of this cap are Gujarat Titans fast bowler Kagiso Rabada and Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Rabada is leading this particular race by taking 28 wickets with an average of 20.79 and an economy rate of 9.44. Bhuvneshwar is just one wicket behind him in terms of total wickets taken but has an edge over him in averages and economy rate at 18.15 and 8.00 respectively. This final might also rewrite the records of IPL as Rabada requires two more wickets to become only the third bowler after Dwayne Bravo (2013) and Harshal Patel (2021) to have 30 or more wickets in a season.

Meanwhile, Bhuvneshwar is chasing a unique milestone. Having already won the Purple Cap in 2016 and 2017, he can become the first bowler in IPL history to claim the award three times. With the title and the season's top bowling honour on the line, every wicket in Ahmedabad could prove decisive.