IPL 2026 | RCB’s golden oldies at forefront of champions’ dream run

When Chennai Super Kings won the IPL for a third time in 2018 following a two-year suspension, they were famously dubbed ‘Daddy’s Army’. Throwing the convention that T20 is a young man’s game, the Super Kings formed their core around mid-30 stars like Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Dwayne Bravo and MS Dhoni, and the quintet were instrumental in restoring the lost joy and pride of the franchise. Something similar is happening in Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

When Royal Challengers finally laid their hands on the coveted IPL trophy in their 18th attempt on a warm summer night in Ahmedabad last June, it was a bunch of mid-30 blokes like Virat Kohli, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood who brought unparalleled joy to their fans. The quartet are at the forefront of RCB’s roaring run again, playing pivotal roles in the champions’ march to the final.

The 37-year-old Kohli, one of the most consistent batters in the history of IPL with 9261 runs in 282 matches, has continued to extend his regal reign with 600 runs this year. What’s more stunning is the Delhiite has tuned his batting to the demands of modern T20 cricket, scoring at a career-high strike rate of 164.38. It’s 30 runs more than his career IPL strike rate and 20-plus compared to last year, showing his undying passion to be the best in the business despite having played the sport at the highest level for two decades now.

The 36-year-old Bhuvneshwar has shown old-school street-smart swing bowling still can test the best of batters in a format that is completely unkind on the bowlers. The Meerut pacer isn’t express, but what has brought him so much success this season (26 wickets) is his ability to keep hitting those hard length areas consistently, hardly giving any room or space for rival batters to free their arms. Bhuvneshwar has often picked wickets during Powerplay, and having mastered the yorker, he’s become a hard bowler to hit at the death too.

The same is true for 35-year-old Hazlewood, whose return from injury after missing the first three games of the season has significantly bolstered the RCB. Like Bhuvneshwar, Hazlewood is a wicket-to-wicket, hitting those Test match lengths like a machine. While he hasn’t been the same force as he was last year, he come to the party in crucial junctures.

The 35-year-old Krunal has found a second wind in the twilight of his career with RCB. Apart from his solid left-arm spin bowling, the southpaw has stood out with his game-changing contributions with the bat whenever the team has been in a spot of bother. Be it 43 off 28 balls against Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1 or 73 versus Mumbai Indians, Krunal has been RCB’s crisis man this season. 

“Experience does count for a lot in your pressure games, but I think it probably speaks volumes for their personalities and their character,” said RCB’s director of cricket, Mo Bobat. “Virat, I think everybody understands what Virat brings to a team, his intensity and his fight. He never lacks hunger and motivation; we all know that, but some of those other guys are similar. 

Josh Hazlewood (left) and Virat Kohli. 

“Someone like KP, he’s a player that has so much fight, so much aggression; he always wants to be in the game, he wants to be in the difficult moments. And in their own way, both Bhuvi and Hazelwood, they’re calmer characters, they’re not as overtly aggressive, but they want to be in the difficult moments of the game and that’s when they want to stand up. And I think those things count for a lot.”

Krunal Pandya

Although T20 is perceived to be a young man’s playground, experience is priceless and that could come in extremely handy on Sunday when RCB chase a second consecutive trophy.