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Former RCB legend AB de Villiers has made a bold prediction for the upcoming IPL 2026 Final. Defending champions and table toppers, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, will play the final against the Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
De Villiers predicted that RCB captain Rajat Patidar would be adjudged the Player of the Match in the final. Patidar is coming off a sensational, unbeaten 93 against GT in Qualifier 1 last Tuesday.
Patidar's heroics put RCB in second straight final
RCB became only the third team to make the final in the next year after winning the tournament in the previous year. At the heart of their routing of GT in Qualifier 1 was Rajat Patidar.
Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal gave RCB a decent start by putting up 72, which Patidar carried on. Patidar and Krunal Pandya started cautiously, but the floodgates eventually broke.
The pair took 28 runs off a Kulwant Khejroliya over and put up an amazing partnership of 95 in just 8 overs. RCB added 114 in the last six overs, which took them to the highest team total in playoffs history.
Rajat Patidar put to rest all doubts about his ability to play pace in an innings laden with 9 sixes.
GT's chase was never on. Shubman Gill's men lost five wickets in the powerplay, and from there it was a formality even though Rahul Tewatia made 68. Jacob Duffy took three wickets while Krunal Pandya, Rasikh Salam, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar took each.
AB de Villiers makes bold predictions
Speaking to Star Sports, AB de Villiers was asked to make three major predictions regarding the IPL 2026 final on Sunday.
First, he predicted Patidar to win the Player of the Match award. If it comes to fruition, Rajat Patidar will be only the fourth captain to win the Player of the Match Award in an IPL final.
The others are Anil Kumble (RCB, 2009), Rohit Sharma (MI, 2015), and Hardik Pandya (GT, 2022). Captain or not, Kumble remains the only player to win the Player of the Match award in an IPL final despite being on the losing side.
Second, de Villiers said that leg spinner Rashid Khan would concede his runs at an economy rate of over 10 runs an over. In both playoffs games of IPL 2026, the Afghan has not taken any wickets.
In Qualifier 1 against RCB, he conceded 29 runs from 3 overs to finish with an economy rate marginally under 10. Against the Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2, Donovan Ferreira laid into Rashid as he ended up conceding 45 runs from two overs, an economy rate of 22.50.
Lastly, de Villiers predicted that his good friend and former RCB skipper Virat Kohli would score a half-century. Kohli is currently RCB's highest run-getter in IPL 2026 with 600 runs in 15 matches. He has also scored 4 half-centuries and a century.
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Rajat Patidar in IPL 2026
In terms of the number of runs scored, Rajat Patidar has had his best IPL season ever. This year, he has made 486 runs in 14 matches at an average of 44 and a strike rate of 187.
He has been one of the best middle-order batters of the tournament, having made 5 fifties.
Also Read: Rain threat over IPL 2026 final: IMD issues weather alert for Ahmedabad ahead of RCB vs GT clash
