Only three players have achieved this rare IPL three-peat - and two are from RCB

NEW DELHI: Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Sunday lifted their second Indian Premier League title, defeating Gujarat Titans by five wickets in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The victory saw several records being created, including RCB becoming only the third franchise in IPL history to successfully defend their title after Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.Amid all the celebrations and milestones, one remarkable record went largely unnoticed. RCB's Phil Salt and Suyash Sharma became part of an exclusive three-member club by completing a rare IPL title hat-trick. The duo won the IPL title with Kolkata Knight Riders in 2024 before adding successive trophies with RCB in 2025 and 2026.They joined Karn Sharma as the only players in IPL history to win three consecutive titles as players. Karn achieved the feat by winning with Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016, Mumbai Indians in 2017 and Chennai Super Kings in 2018, becoming the first cricketer to complete an IPL title hat-trick.Salt, who was bought by RCB for Rs 11.50 crore at the IPL 2025 auction, was a member of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad that won the 2024 title under Shreyas Iyer. However, KKR released him after the season. A fierce bidding battle followed between KKR and RCB at the IPL 2025 auction before Bengaluru secured the England wicketkeeper-batter's services.The 29-year-old now has three consecutive IPL titles to his name. Salt featured in six matches during IPL 2026, scoring 202 runs at a strike rate of 168.33.Across 40 IPL matches, Salt has scored 1,258 runs at a remarkable strike rate of 174.48, including 12 half-centuries.Suyash, meanwhile, was acquired by RCB for Rs 2.60 crore at the IPL 2025 auction. The young leg-spinner enjoyed a decent IPL 2026 campaign, taking nine wickets in 12 matches while maintaining an economy rate of 9.21.Overall, Suyash has claimed 27 wickets in 39 IPL matches at an average of 44.07.The list of players with the most IPL titles is dominated by some of the tournament's biggest names. Rohit Sharma and Ambati Rayudu lead the chart with six trophies each. Rohit won his first title with Deccan Chargers in 2009 before becoming a cornerstone of Mumbai Indians' dynasty, helping the franchise win five more titles between 2013 and 2020. Rayudu, meanwhile, won three titles with Mumbai Indians and another three with Chennai Super Kings.A group of six players share second place with five IPL titles each — MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard, Aditya Tare and Krunal Pandya. Dhoni's five titles have all come with Chennai Super Kings, while Bumrah and Pollard were integral members of Mumbai Indians' championship-winning sides.Hardik Pandya won four titles with Mumbai Indians before leading Gujarat Titans to glory in 2022.Krunal Pandya is the latest entrant into the five-title club after winning back-to-back IPL crowns with RCB in 2025 and 2026, adding to the three trophies he won with Mumbai Indians.Several other IPL stalwarts have four titles each, including Harbhajan Singh, Karn Sharma, Suresh Raina, Lasith Malinga and Ravindra Jadeja.However, when it comes to winning three consecutive IPL titles as a player, Salt, Suyash and Karn stand alone. The trio are the only cricketers in IPL history to achieve the rare feat.