Gujarat Titans have found a second wind after an average first half of the Indian Premier League 2026. From battling in the middle of the points table and being outside the top four, GT sealed their place in the top two, setting up what promises to be a mouth-watering Qualifier 1 against the defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala.ย
GT had suffered four losses in their first seven matches and were found a step behind in the modern-day T20 batting when they met RCB in their seventh match of the season. Since then, they have produced a sensational turn around and how.ย
The Titans have gone on to win six of their next seven games, having produced much better batting displays. Jos Buttler has found his form, and their opening pair of Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan has been going ever so strong, having equalled the record for most century partnerships in the history of the tournament.
Sudharsan, Gill top run-scorers, Rabada, Siraj, Rashid hunt in pair
GT would be pleased to see that their top three are performing yet again, but would be happy that their middle order has done just enough to help them close out a few matches and post strong totals. Sudharsan is the current orange cap holder, having hit 638 runs in 14 innings, while captain Gill follows him close with 616 runs in 13 outings.ย
Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj have troubled the oppositions with their Test match bowling line-ups, while Rashid Khan has been highly prolific too. Rabada is the joint-highest wicket-taker of the season, having taken 24 wickets, while Rashid and Siraj have 19 and 17, respectively.
RCB’s renewed strategy puts them in pole for win
While GT have been doing the things well, they are up against a mighty RCB side, which has covered most of the bases as per the conditions to win games and maybe the tournament too. Despite the absence of Phil Salt from the second half of the tournament, their scoring rate has not been affected much as Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Devdutt Padikkal dismantled the bowling attacks.ย
The return of Venkatesh Iyer and the clutch innings of Krunal Pandya offer RCB that extra edge that GT seems to be lacking. Venkatesh has scored two highly impactful innings at different positions, which saw captain Patidar heaping praise on him. Even Salt’s return would give some selection headache to RCB, and they might not drop Venkatesh but Jitesh Sharma, who seems to be out of sorts this season.ย
The bowling attack has brought the renewed air of freshness that RCB had lacked over the past few years, sans in 2025. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is the current purple cap holder, while Josh Hazlewood has been lethal since joining the squad late due to managing his Achilles injury and a hamstring issue.ย
While GT’s renewed scoring rate keeps them in good shape against the RCB, the defending champions still hold an edge over the 2022 champions to make a direct entry in the final, which beckons these two sides.
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