The two best teams of the league phase – Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans – will take on each other at Dharamshala on Tuesday in the first qualifier of IPL 2026. Both of these teams won nine matches and lost five and thus there is nothing much to choose between the two.
However, both picked a different path to get to the first target of the season. While the Titans adopted a calculative approach, the defending champions were more aggressive.
GT’s captain, Shubman Gill, has been more aggressive in his batting approach in the ongoing season after he was left out of the T20 World Cup squad. Gill has reaped rewards for changing his template and once again, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler have been his partners in crime.
More importantly, GT’s bowling has shone like a north star. Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada have bowled 148 and 147 dot balls, which is the most in the season.
On the other hand, RCB have played like the reigning champions. However, Phil Salt didn’t practice on the eve of the game, and thus Venkatesh Iyer could open the innings with Virat Kohli.
Josh Hazlewood has been a hit-and-miss in the ongoing season and the Australian will hold the key for RCB. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been brilliant throughout the season, and he would look to give early breakthroughs to his team.
Head to Head: Matches: 8, Won by RCB: 4, Won by GT: 4.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Venkatesh Iyer, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Salam Dar, Philip Salt, Abhinandan Singh, Swapnil Singh, Jordan Cox, Kanishk Chouhan, Jacob Duffy, Richard Gleeson, Vicky Ostwal, Vihaan Malhotra, Mangesh Yadav, Satvik Deswal
Gujarat Titans Squad: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Washington Sundar, Nishant Sindhu, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Arshad Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Anuj Rawat, Glenn Phillips, Rahul Tewatia, Kulwant Khejroliya, Kumar Kushagra, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Shahrukh Khan, Ishant Sharma, Luke Wood, Ashok Sharma, Connor Esterhuizen, Gurnoor Brar, Manav Suthar, Jayant Yadav
