Former Pakistan player Basit Ali believes the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will successfully defend their Indian Premier League (IPL) title, similar to how Peshawar Zalmi dominated the recent Pakistan Super League (PSL).
RCB enters Qualifier 1 after finishing at the top of the table with 18 points from 14 matches. Rajat Patidar’s team aims to become only the third in IPL history to retain their title, joining the Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.
Ali expressed confidence that the defending champions will reach the final in Ahmedabad by defeating the Gujarat Titans (GT). He mentioned that the only real threat to RCB could come from the Sunrisers Hyderabad, who must first defeat the Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator.
“RCB will do exactly what Peshawar Zalmi did—straightforward domination. If anyone can challenge RCB, it is Sunrisers Hyderabad. Otherwise, no one else has a chance,” Basit Ali stated on the ‘Game Plan’ podcast.
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal also supports RCB to win Qualifier 1 and advance to the final in Ahmedabad on May 31.
“I feel RCB are very dangerous on that ground. Their top three batters—Shubman Gill, Sudarshan, and Jos Buttler—are very strong. RCB’s batting goes very deep until 7 or 8. Their bowling is also impressive. It will be a high-scoring match, maybe exceeding 200, even 220–225,” Akmal said.
Similar to RCB, Peshawar Zalmi was in excellent form throughout the 2026 PSL season, losing only one match. They secured their second PSL title, the first since 2017.
RCB, however, faced some challenges, losing five matches in the league phase. They finished with the same number of points as the Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad but had a much better net run-rate.