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Dhurandhar The Revenge has been beaten. Not in terms of box office collection, but by the razzmatazz of the Indian Premier League, possibly the only tournament, sports or entertainment of any kind that could have challenged the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time. Last night’s IPL 2026 clash between the Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru was a first in the league’s 19-year history, stretching to a record four hours and 22 minutes – the longest-ever IPL match to start on time, without any interruptions, reduction in overs or Super Overs. Aditya Dhar’s blockbuster enjoyed a run-time of 3 hours and 50 minutes.
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Overall, in terms of duration, the MI vs RCB match at the Wankhede is the second-longest, behind the MI vs Punjab Kings (formerly Kings XI Punjab) match in 2020. The marathon game lasted five hours and four minutes, requiring a double Super Over shootout to decide the winner. The IPL 2023 matches between the Delhi Capitals and the Kolkata Knight Ridersas well as RCB vs Gujarat Titansalso registered a higher run-time than last night’s contest, at 4 hours 50 minutes and 4 hours 30 minutes, respectively. However, both games started late due to weather restrictions. The first ball was bowled way past the designated start time of 7:30 PM IST.
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Longest IPL matches, but with rain playing a role (before or during the match)
DC vs KKR (2023) – about 4h 50m
RCB vs GT (2023) – about 4h 38m
MI vs RCB (2026) – about 4h 22m
CSK vs MI (2018) – about 4h 15m
MI vs PBKS (2019) – about 4h 11m
Longest IPL matches to start on time without any interval or Super Overs:
MI vs RCB, 2026 – 4h 22m
MI vs PBKS, 2019 – 4h 11m
CSK vs RR, 2019 – 4h 11m
LSG vs CSK, 2025 – 4h 00m
CSK vs LSG, 2024 – 4h 00m
Surprisingly, neither captain – Hardik Pandya or Rajat Patidar – has been fined by the BCCI, a surprising call given how strict it is with over rates. Captains Shreyas Iyer of PBKS, Shubman Gill of GT and Ruturaj Gaikwad of Chennai Super Kings have already copped punishments, but despite MI vs RCB going almost till 12 AM, the skipper can consider themselves lucky to get away this time.
Longest IPL matches with and without Super Overs:
Including Super Overs
MI vs KXIP, 2020 – about 5h 4 minutes
MI vs RCB, 2026 – about 4h 22m
MI vs KXIP, 2019 – about 4h 03m
DC vs KKR, 2019 – about 4h 00m
Without Super Overs
MI vs RCB, 2026 – about 4h 23m
MI vs KXIP, 2019 – about 4h 03m
Although there have been games that have hit the four-hour mark – MI vs PBKS in 2019, and CSK vs Rajasthan Royals went on for 4 hours and 11 minutes each, whereas 2024’s CSK vs Lucknow Super Giants clash and the one between LSG and CSK in 2025 clocked at exactly four hours – Dhurandhar 2 was released only last month.
Lastly, the longest IPL match of all time (including every factor/delay)
CSK vs GT, 2023 Final – 30h 05m
MI vs PBKS, 2020 – 5h 04m
DC vs KKR, 2023 – 4h 50m
RCB vs GT, 2023 – 4h 38m
MI vs RCB, 2026 – 4h 22m
MI vs PBKS, 2019 – 4h 11m
CSK vs RR, 2019 – 4h 11m
CSK vs GT beats them all
If everything is to be kept as factors – rain, Super Overs, rain or any other form of mid-match delays, nothing beats the three-day final between CSK and GT in the final of the 2023 IPL. The match, scheduled to start on Sunday, was moved to the reserve day on Monday due to rain, and the toss took place; the summit clash finally got underway. And yet, with plenty of rain around, the game finally concluded close to 3 AM, officially entering Tuesday. The last ball was around 1:30, and it took another 90 minutes to finish the presentation ceremony and hand out the prizes and trophy.
