In a shocking incident after the IPL 2026 final between the Gujarat Titans (GT) and the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the team bus of the Shubman Gill-led side caught fire on the way to their team hotel after the match at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on Sunday, May 31. A major accident was avoided as all the players and support staff seated in the bus, including the driver, were safely evacuated.
The fire, although not major, broke out after a short circuit in the bus due to an electrical fault in the main unit. Smoke erupted in the bus and also entered the inside area where all the players were seated. However, they remained safe and had to wait on the road for roughly an hour before a rescue bus arrived and took them to the team hotel.
Prompt action by the logistics team and security personnel as well as the Ahmedabad police personnel available in the route from Motera to the team hotel ensured that there were no major threats after the short circuit in the bus.
All the Gujarat Titans players reached their destination shortly thereafter from the scary situation after they had already lost their second-ever IPL final.
Speaking more of the match, RCB managed to chase down the relatively subpar target set by GT with five wickets to spare and two overs remaining. Virat Kohli (75* off 42) was charismatic on the big night, also hitting the winning six to seal the deal for the Rajat Patidar-led side.
GT had faced some travel disruptions before the final as well. After they defeated the Rajasthan Royals in the Qualifier 2 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Stadium, their flight to Ahmedabad for the summit clash was delayed owing to inclement weather conditions in New Chandigarh. They reached Ahmedabad less than twenty-four hours before the final match, which may have caused travel fatigue.
“I don’t want to take away from the fact that RCB have won by simply stating that we have had this number of games in these short days and we’re fatigued, and that’s not really what our team is about,” GT’s director of cricket Vikram Solanki said at the post-match press conference.
Nonetheless, RCB won their second-consecutive IPL title. Patidar joined the legendary list of captains MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma to have won an IPL championship for two years straight. RCB have arguably set their legacy for being one of the best sides in the league’s history, and now have two IPL trophies as well to display their dominance in the tournament over the years.
