Former Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin feels Royal Challengers Bengaluru will drop Romario Shepherd for the game against Gujarat Titans at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, on Friday. Ashwin reckons the defending champions will either bring Jacob Duffy or Jacob Bethell into their playing XI. Shepherd has snared three wickets in five innings at an average of 45.33 and a high economy rate of 15.11.

Meanwhile, Duffy has scalped six wickets in three games of IPL 2026 at an average of 23 and an economy rate of 11.50. Jacob Bethell is yet to play his first match of the ongoing season for the reigning champions, as the team has backed Phil Salt and Tim David as overseas batters.

Ashwin said RCB has a potent team and backed Rajat Patidar’s side to win against the Gujarat Titans.

“I have a feeling that Romario Shepherd won’t play. I have a feeling that they will go with Jacob Duffy, or a batter like Jacob Bethell. But RCB are looking quite strong, they have the batting, the bowling looks strong,” R Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

“I want to see how Rashid Khan bowls in this game, because the last two games have been slightly under Rashid’s standard. But in this game, RCB look very strong. So, I will go with RCB to win,” he added.

On the other hand, RCB’s Director of Cricket, Mo Bobat, said they want to play aggressively with both bat and ball.

“We want to play aggressive cricket with the bat and aggressive cricket with the ball. More importantly, we want to be brave, especially in moments when the game is on the line. If we can do that consistently, the results will take care of themselves,” Mo Bobat said in the pre-match press conference.

RCB will host GT on Friday.