After finishing seventh in the inaugural season, RCB bounced back strongly in 2009 under Anil Kumble’s captaincy. They reached the final but lost to Deccan Chargers by six runs in a low-scoring contest in Johannesburg.
RCB qualified for the semi-finals in 2010 and won the third-place playoff match before making another final the following year. Powered by Chris Gayle’s prolific run-scoring season, RCB reached the 2011 title clash but lost to Chennai Super Kings by 58 runs in Chennai.
The next three seasons proved to be barren for RCB but they returned to the top four again in 2015. Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers starred with the bat as Bengaluru reached Qualifier 2, where they lost to Chennai Super Kings.
In IPL 2016, RCB produced one of the greatest batting seasons in the tournament’s history. Kohli amassed a record 973 runs, including four centuries, while de Villiers and Gayle provided strong support through the campaign.
After recovering from a poor start to the season, RCB won six matches in a row to reach the final. However, they fell short against Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight runs in the title clash despite Kohli’s extraordinary season that saw him score four centuries.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru failed to qualify for the playoffs in the next three editions, finishing bottom in 2017 as well as 2019 and doing only marginally better in 2018.
RCB returned to the playoffs in 2020 but lost the Eliminator to Sunrisers Hyderabad. The following season, they were knocked out by Kolkata Knight Riders in another Eliminator defeat.
Ahead of IPL 2022, Faf du Plessis replaced Virat Kohli as captain and guided RCB to the playoffs in his first season in charge. Bengaluru defeated Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator before losing to Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2.
In IPL 2024, RCB scripted a remarkable turnaround after losing seven of their first eight matches. Bengaluru won six consecutive games to qualify for the playoffs but lost to Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator.
Ahead of IPL 2025, Rajat Patidar was named captain after Faf du Plessis and helped guide RCB to a second-placed finish in the league stage before beating Punjab Kings in Qualifier 1 to reach the final.
RCB also defeated Punjab Kings by six runs to win their maiden IPL title. Krunal Pandya starred with the ball while Virat Kohli top-scored for RCB in the summit clash.
