AB de Villiers predicts Player of the Match in IPL 2026 final; It's not Virat Kohli

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Gujarat Titans (GT) are set to lock horns at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, May 31, in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 final. These two teams had finished at the top of the points table at the end of the league phase. It's safe to call them the top two teams this season, as they have been consistent, making fewer errors than their competitors.

Former South Africa captain and RCB legend AB de Villiers picked Rajat Patidar to win the Player of the Match award in the final. The cricketer-turned-expert also backed the RCB skipper to score at a strike rate of over 200.

Patidar won the Player of the Match award in Qualifier 1, which was played at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Tuesday against the Gujarat Titans. The right-handed batter amassed 93* off 33 balls, belting five fours and nine sixes. The defending champions posted 254/5 on the back of his blitzkrieg and dismissed the Titans for 162.

De Villiers also predicted a solid half-century for his former RCB teammate and close friend, Virat Kohli. The former India and RCB captain has notched up five fifties this season. He also has one century under his belt, which came against the Kolkata Knight Riders. In 15 innings in IPL 2026, Kohli has amassed 600 runs at an average of 50 and a strike rate of 164.39.

During De Villiers' final prediction for the summit clash, the 42-year-old said that Rashid Khan would have an off-day, conceding runs at an economy rate of over 10. The Afghanistan spinner gave away 29 runs in three overs and went wicketless when these two sides faced each other in Qualifier 1. However, things went from bad to worse for the Nangarhar-born in Qualifier 2, as he went for 45 runs in his two overs against the Rajasthan Royals. Rashid has blown hot and cold this season, having picked up 19 wickets from 16 matches at an average of 25.84 and an economy rate of 9.29.