NEW DELHI: Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill won the toss and elected to field against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the high-voltage IPL 2026 Qualifier 1 clash at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Tuesday.
The winner of the contest will secure a direct spot in the IPL 2026 final, while the losing side will get another opportunity in Qualifier 2 against the winner of the Eliminator.
Gujarat Titans made one change to their playing XI, bringing in Kulwant Khejroliya in place of Arshad Khan.
"We're gonna bowl first. It looks like a good wicket, you know, but we have seen and in this ground particularly, there is a bit of dew in the second inning, so it's always good to have a total on the board and a big win and then try to chase it down. I think, this match is all about taking the equation out of the game. We have been playing some really good cricket and hopefully we'll continue to do so," Shubman said during the toss.
"I've played a lot here in the under 14, under 16 days. I've spent quite a bit of time here, so yeah, hopefully it's gonna be a good use of us. And yes, it is one of the prettiest grounds, in the world. We have one change. Kulwant comes in in place of Arshad Khan," he said.
On the other hand, defending champions RCB brought in Jacob Duffy as part of their changes for the knockout clash.
"I think, to be honest, the wicket looks pretty good. It's pretty hard. It will come nicely on the bat, so I think it will not change in 40 overs. So we'll try to put a good total on the board and keep them under pressure. I think the first qualifier game is, I think it's a nice game to go straight in the final after winning this game, but we are just taking this one game at a time. We'll give our best in this game," RCB captain Rajat Patidar said.
"I think we've played good cricket and we are just focusing more on our strength, rather than focusing more on the opposition. So yeah, focusing more on the strength is our motto this year. I think the surface looks pretty good. It's pretty hard. There's no grass cover on it, I think so. It will be nice to bat on," he said.
Playing XIs:Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Washington Sundar, Nishant Sindhu, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Kulwant Khejroliya, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Venkatesh Iyer, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Salam Dar
Here are the Impact substitutes for both the teams:Royal Challengers Bengaluru Impact subs: Romario Shepherd, Suyash Sharma, Kanishk Chouhan, Abhinandan Singh, Jordan Cox
Gujarat Titans Impact subs: Rahul Tewatia, Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Kumar Kushagra, Sai Kishore.
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