Since the Women’s Premier League was established in 2023, no franchise has won both the WPL and the men’s Indian Premier League (IPL) in the same season.
But could that change in 2026?
Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who won that thrilling final against the Delhi Capitals back in February, already have their trophy on show – their second WPL title.
And now the men’s team will be looking to follow suit as we build to the final of the IPL on May 31.
A Royal Challenge
Those who like to place a cricket bet may already be aware that RCB aren’t the favourites for the IPL title in 2026; that honour goes to the Mumbai Indians (10/3), who last lifted this trophy back six seasons ago.
There are Indian Premier League odds for a ‘name the finalists’ market, with a price of 25/1 available to those predicting an RCB-Delhi trophy match to replicate the WPL final.
Mumbai was the last franchise to retain their IPL title during that 2020 campaign, while in the WPL no team is yet to successfully defend their crown – that goes to show just how tough it is to win these T20 tournaments in consecutive years.
In the WPL, Mumbai really struggled in 2026… surprisingly so. The reigning champions won just three of their eight league stage games, despite the likes of Harmanpreet Kaur and Nat Sciver-Brunt scoring an avalanche of runs – a whopping 663 combined, in fact.
CONSISTENCY PERSONIFIED! ✅
Natalie Sciver-Brunt’s outstanding performances throughout the season have earned her the MVP award! 🥇#TATAWPL | #DCvMI | #Final | @mipaltan | @natsciver pic.twitter.com/bNOJMz1WXZ
— Women’s Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 15, 2025
Amelia Kerr, a savvy off-season signing, also weighed in with 14 wickets, so it’s clear that Mumbai’s big players held their hand up – even if, collectively, the team wasn’t able to qualify for the play-offs.
Delhi Capitals, of course, have now finished runner-up in all four editions of the WPL. That’s a record they will be desperate to end in 2027.
But to the victor go the spoils… and RCB were every inch the worthy champions of WPL ’26.
Captain Fantastic
Major finals often require huge individual performances from key players.
And they don’t come much bigger than Smriti Mandhana’s innings of 87, from just 41 balls, in the heat of the Women’s Premier League final at the Kotambi Stadium.
She had been captain fantastic throughout the tournament, leading the run-scoring charts, but it was Mandhana’s ability to go through the gears in the final – hitting 12 fours and three maximums – that guided RCB to their target of 204 with two balls to spare in a nerve-jangling conclusion.
CAPTAIN SMRITI MANDHANA IN WPL 2026:
Innings – 8
Runs – 290
Average – 48.33
Strike rate – 141.46
Fifties – 2
Highest score – 96Captain is leading RCB from front 👌 pic.twitter.com/iGXp0BV7ZF
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) January 30, 2026
Winning the WPL or the IPL requires those elite stars to come to the fore at key moments, with Nadine de Klerk another to provide proof of that in the final.
The South African ended the WPL campaign with 16 wickets, the third-best haul, but it was her brief cameo in the 2026 final that confirmed her status as a big-time player.
De Klerk didn’t actually bowl all that well, conceding 48 runs from her four overs, but despite that, she stepped up and took the key wicket of Lizelle Lee. She also took the catch that dismissed the dangerous Jemimah Rodrigues, who had passed her half-century and looked like a possible match-winner.
If the men’s RCB team was watching on, they would have learnt that this is what it takes to win a mammoth final – key players standing up to be counted. So can Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Josh Hazlewood, and co be the inspiration for a rare IPL title defence in 2026?