Former India batter Ambati Rayudu named the teams he believes will win the IPL in 2026, just a few months after the 2025 season ended. Notably, the 2025 championship was won by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
Rayudu identified the two teams that could win in 2026 as the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He did, however, also pick MI as the winner and anticipate that MI and RCB may play in the final. After winning their first IPL championship, he said that RCB needed to understand how hard it is to take home the trophy five times. In the league’s history, only MI and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have taken home the championship five times.
In addition, he projected that MI, RCB, CSK, and KKR will be among the top four teams in the 2026 tournament.
“If we look at the teams now, I think MI or KKR could win. Top four I think MI, RCB, CSK, KKR. I think it could be an MI RCB final and MI will win. I am not leaving RCB because they need to realize how difficult it is to win five titles,” he said on Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast. (1:33:37)
He stated, however, that he was happy that RCB won this year. In his opinion, the team leads to the right direction. Leading the team the first time as captain, Rajat Patidar broke the 18-year IPL drought in the trophy. RCB beat Punjab Kings (PBKS) by six runs in the Ahmedabad final.
“It is just good banter. I was happy when they won. I wish them all the best. I think they are on the right path and playing unlike RCB,” he added.
They had a fantastic run and were reliable all season long. After winning the first qualifier, RCB advanced to the finals and finished second in the league stage.
Ambati Rayudu has won multiple IPL titles in his career
In his IPL career, Ambati Rayudu was a member of two of the most prosperous teams. He participated in both CSK and MI. He began playing in the league with MI in 2010. He played with them till 2017 and amassed 2635 runs in 136 games, including 14 half-centuries.
He joined CSK in 2018 and will be with them for six seasons till 2023. In 90 games, he scored 1932 runs for them, including an undefeated century. Following CSK’s victory in the 2023 IPL, Rayudu announced his retirement.
He has managed to clinch the league six times in his career with three of them being MI and three CSK. Rayudu has served on the team when MI won the title in 2013, 2015 and 2017. He won the trophy with CSK in 2018, 2021 and 2023.
The right-hander appeared in 204 matches with 4348 runs of averages of strikeouts of 28.23 and 127.54.
