Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, IPL final and Royal Challengers Bangalore. For the second consecutive IPL season, Bengaluru is going to stake claim for the title in the final on this ground. Only this time there are two big differences – first, the team is trying to defend its title and second, it is facing the home team Gujarat Titans. In such a situation, the challenge for him is more difficult this time. This challenge has been made more complicated by pitch number 6 of Ahmedabad, on which this final will be held and which RCB, especially Kohli, cannot forget.
A day before the final of IPL 2026 to be held on Sunday, May 31, Bengaluru practiced vigorously at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Meanwhile, Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar came to the press conference and was questioned about the pitch. Patidar then said that till then he had not seen the fresh condition of the pitch but there was some grass on the pitch, which had been cut the day before and was to be cut again. He also expressed hope that the pitch will be good.
Now, how the pitch behaves will be known after the start of the match, but this number 6 pitch became the reason for discussion. There is a reason for this also. Actually, this is the same pitch on which the final of the ODI World Cup 2023 was played. Team India had scored 239 runs and lost the final. The match between Gujarat and Bengaluru was also played on the same pitch in the current IPL season. In that match, Bengaluru could score only 155 runs and lost. Coincidentally, Virat Kohli was a part of both these matches.
In both these matches, Kohli, after making a strong start, lost his wicket in almost the same manner. He played an inning of 54 runs in the World Cup final and then due to bounce, the ball hit his bat and went into the stumps. Whereas against GT, he had scored 28 runs in 13 balls and then while trying to play a shot, the ball hit the bat and went into the stump. In such a situation, Kohli would like to change the story this time.
But this pitch was not the only disappointment for Kohli and RCB. This is the same 22-yard strip on which RCB won its first IPL title in last year’s final. Kohli played an important inning of 43 runs in that match. In such a situation, the team will land here with the intention of repeating that success.
If we talk about the structure and behavior of this pitch, then it is a mixed soil pitch, that is, it has been made using black soil and red soil. In such a situation, she generally behaves in a mixed manner. Generally, good runs are scored in it but compared to other pitches of Modi Stadium, its average score in the first innings is low. Statistics show that the average score in the first innings in the IPL and T20 International matches played since 2025 is 199 runs.
Not only this, where usually in Ahmedabad the team batting first wins, on this pitch the record is tied at 3-3. If we talk about the overall record of this season, out of the 7 matches played on all the pitches of Ahmedabad, the team batting first has won 4 and the team chasing runs has won 3. Last year, Bengaluru had won the title by batting first on the same pitch, whereas this season it had lost while batting first. In such a situation, the pitch situation is going to be very interesting.
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