‘You played BOLD and roared’ – Vijay Mallya shares emotional message as former side RCB qualifies for IPL 2026 playoffs

Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) owner Vijay Mallya took to X (formerly Twitter) to congratulate them for being the first team to qualify for the playoffs at the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL). This comes after their win over the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala on Sunday, May 17.

In this post, Mallya called the defending champions “namma dodda Simhagulu,” which roughly translates to “Our big lions.” The former owner stated how proud he was of RCB to make it into the latter stages of this year’s tournament and went on to call them the best to ever feature in the IPL. 

“RCB, RCB, RCB namma dodda Simhagulu… you made us all soooo proud today – first team to qualify. You played BOLD and roared even louder as the Lions from Bengaluru. Well done and congratulations. Onward and Upward to the best team in the IPL,” Vijay Mallya posted on the social media platform after RCB’s convincing win over PBKS. 

Following their win in Dharamshala, RCB are at the top of the points table, after accumulating 18 points from 13 matches. They have the chance to end the league phase inside the top two should they win their last game of the regular season, which is against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Friday, May 22. 

Rajat Patidar’s side now have the chance to defend their title from last year and thus become only the third team in IPL history to retain the trophy. The two sides to accomplish the feat are the Chennai Super Kings, who won it in 2010 and 2011 and the Mumbai Indians, who won back-to-back honours in 2019 and 2020.

PBKS, on the other hand, have now lost six matches in a row, with their playoff chances hanging by a thread. Shreyas Iyer’s side are still fourth in the standings, having picked up 13 points from 13 matches.