New Delhi: For years, Royal Challengers Bangalore were the great romantics of Indian cricket.They had stars. He had a number of fans. They had their moments. What they didn’t have were trophies.RCB has arrived. IPL The finals fell short in 2009, 2011 and 2016. For 18 years, supporters have watched squads built around icons like Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli come agonizingly close, only to fall out of reach for the title. RCB became synonymous with promise rather than success, with passion rather than silverware.That is why what has happened in the last three years is so remarkable.With the IPL 2026 title in Ahmedabad on Sunday, RCB have now won back-to-back titles.Their women’s team, meanwhile, can take credit for leading the way by winning the 2024 Women’s Premier League (WPL) title. The Smriti Mandhana-led side won two trophies in three years in February.Fast forward to May 31 and the franchise that once bore the brunt of underachievement is now at the top of both India’s premier T20 leagues.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Gujarat Titans to win the IPL title.
The change has not come suddenly. It has been structural.The old RCB often looked like a team built around star power. The new RCB seems to be built around the system. Recruitment has become smarter. The roles are clear. Dependence on one or two superstars is reduced. Success is no longer expected because of individual talent. This has been developed through squad depth, planning and consistency.This change is visible in both teams.The WPL side got there first. While the inaugural years of the WPL saw teams scrambling to build squads, or even understand the competition’s shelf life, RCB consistently built a core, supportive leaders and created an environment where players could thrive. The titles that followed were a reward for patience rather than the result of a short-term approach.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Delhi Capitals to win WPL 2026 – their second title in three years.
The men’s team has since followed a similar path. Rajat Patidar Took over the leadership from Virat Kohli.The emotional weight of finally winning the IPL title in 2025 could easily have led to complacency. Instead, it became the basis for constant excellence. Defending a title is often more difficult than winning. Yet RCB bounce back in 2026 as champions looking less like defending a crown and more like a team that believes it belongs at the top.This mentality separates the champions from the families.Football offers examples. FC Barcelona’s golden era with the men’s team and the women’s was defined not by a trophy but by a culture that produced winning teams time and time again. More recently, both Manchester City’s men’s and women’s teams have become consistent title challengers as the club’s philosophy extends throughout the organization rather than being confined to a single squad.
Manchester City Women beat Brighton to win the 2026 Women’s FA Cup. (Getty Images)
RCB’s rise feels closer to this model.For perhaps the first time in franchise history, the men’s and women’s teams are aligned. Both sides reflect similar principles: a belief in long-term planning, strong leadership groups and a willingness to prioritize balance over glamour.For most of its existence, RCB lived in the shadow of its own narrative. With each season came reminders of heartbreak, near misses and unrealized potential. The franchise became a punch line for rivals and a test of loyalty for supporters.Now, that conversation has changed.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru joined Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in winning back-to-back IPL titles. (ANI)
Young fans are growing up knowing that RCB are not perennial underachievers but serial winners. The franchise identity is being rewritten in real time. Memories that once focused on what could have been are increasingly being replaced by celebrations of success.From the almost men of cricket to the standard bearers of Indian franchise cricket, RCB has completed one of the most significant transformations seen in the IPL era. And now with titles coming off both their men’s and women’s teams, the franchise is no longer chasing history.It is making.
