Indian Premier League 2026 - 34th Match
RCB
0/0
vs
GT
0/0
Match starts at Apr 24, 14:00 GMT
won the toss and chose to
Commentary
Preview by Kaushik Rangarajan
Royal Challengers Bengaluru have spent most of the first half of their title defence where contenders prefer to be: in the top half of the table, not already at the summit but far enough from panic. But seasons are measured in shades, and 4-3 will not glow quite like 5-2 at the midpoint of a league where margins can vanish quickly. RCB arrive at this fixture knowing they are well placed, but a second home defeat could create some unease.
What lends extra intrigue to the clash against Gujarat Titans is that it is RCB's last league game at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium this season - an unusually early farewell to the address that has shaped so much of their identity. The defeat to Delhi Capitals notwithstanding, they have largely made this venue work for them this year. But the road now bends outward: seven matches away from Bengaluru in the second half of the campaign, including two designated 'home fixtures' in Raipur - a temporary base whose characteristics remain largely unfamiliar. They will hope this is only a goodbye for now, with a reunion in May. For that to happen, qualification must be secured first - for which a win tomorrow would help - and then the playoffs must still belong to this ground.
The contest itself is framed by two batting stories. Gujarat Titans continue to lean heavily on the gleam of their top three: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler. When they fire, GT look sleek; but wipe out the cream from the top and the middle can seem squishy, a lingering issue now stretching across seasons. A dip in returns for last year's Orange Cap winner Sudharsan only sharpens that dependence heading into Bengaluru.
RCB, meanwhile, possess a batting order many sides would borrow wholesale. Yet even abundance has conditions. On slow, two-paced surfaces, like the Chinnaswamy strips used in the last two games - going too hard too early can distort the innings, especially batting first. The lower-order hitters built to storm the finish can find themselves arriving with too many overs still to navigate. Delhi Capitals won a useful toss and exposed that blueprint in a day game. Gujarat did so here last year too. If the conditions hold, the pitch may land the first blow before either batting line-up throws one.
When: RCB vs GT, IPL 2026, April 24 at 19:30 IST
Where: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
What to expect: Pitch No. 6 - the one used for the CSK and LSG games - will be in play for this. Midday temperatures in Bengaluru have continued to rise, affecting pitch preparation. After four innings of 200+ scores, we've seen first-innings totals plummet to 146 and 175 in the last two games. Teams will, as a matter of principle, want to chase on this ground.
Head to Head: RCB 3-3 GT. The Titans have also won 2 of the three fixtures played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, including last season's encounter. All six games in this fixture have been won by the chasing side.
Team News:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Injuries/Availability: No new injuries to report apart from the continued unavailability of Nuwan Thushara.
Tactics & Matchups: Bhuvneshwar Kumar has excellent T20 records against Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler. He has dismissed Buttler seven times and Gill four times and hasn't conceded at above 110 SR to either of them. The GT top-three come into this game having all been dismissed in the Powerplay for the first time, in the last game against Mumbai Indians.
Probable XII: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam Dar
Gujarat Titans
Injuries/Availability: No new injuries to report.
Tactics & Matchups:
Jason Holder, with his height and instinctive back-of-a-length game, could be especially useful at a venue that can offer spongy bounce to hit-the-deck seamers. With Kagiso Rabada finding rhythm, Holder's inclusion may trigger a small reshuffle in Gujarat's XI. Glenn Phillips is one possible casualty, while there is also a case for swapping Shahrukh Khan for an additional top-order batter such as Kumar Kushagra to fill the Phillips gap. That would free Titans to balance the attack differently too - perhaps with a left-arm spinner in R Sai Kishore or Manav Suthar against a right-dominated RCB instead of Ashok Sharma.
Probable XII: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Kumar Kushagra, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, R. Sai Kishore/Manav Suthar
Did you know?
- Kagiso Rabada has the joint-most wickets (7) in the Powerplay in IPL 2026 so far
- Jos Buttler has two ducks and two hundreds in his last five innings vs RCB
- Virat Kohli averages 87.75 against GT. His six scores in this fixture read: 58 (53), 73 (54), 101* (61), 70* (44), 42 (27), 7 (6)
What they said:
"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, RCB Director of Cricket
"We'll remain consistent in the way we go about our batting and our bowling and our [game] altogether, to be perfectly honest with you. That's been something we've been mindful of, is to remain consistent regardless of results. We trust in our method, we trust in the players that we have, in delivering that method and that formula." - Vikram Solanki, GT Director of Cricket
Royal Challengers Bengaluru have spent most of the first half of their title defence where contenders prefer to be: in the top half of the table, not already at the summit but far enough from panic. But seasons are measured in shades, and 4-3 will not glow quite like 5-2 at the midpoint of a league where margins can vanish quickly. RCB arrive at this fixture knowing they are well placed, but a second home defeat could create some unease.
What lends extra intrigue to the clash against Gujarat Titans is that it is RCB's last league game at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium this season - an unusually early farewell to the address that has shaped so much of their identity. The defeat to Delhi Capitals notwithstanding, they have largely made this venue work for them this year. But the road now bends outward: seven matches away from Bengaluru in the second half of the campaign, including two designated 'home fixtures' in Raipur - a temporary base whose characteristics remain largely unfamiliar. They will hope this is only a goodbye for now, with a reunion in May. For that to happen, qualification must be secured first - for which a win tomorrow would help - and then the playoffs must still belong to this ground.
The contest itself is framed by two batting stories. Gujarat Titans continue to lean heavily on the gleam of their top three: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler. When they fire, GT look sleek; but wipe out the cream from the top and the middle can seem squishy, a lingering issue now stretching across seasons. A dip in returns for last year's Orange Cap winner Sudharsan only sharpens that dependence heading into Bengaluru.
RCB, meanwhile, possess a batting order many sides would borrow wholesale. Yet even abundance has conditions. On slow, two-paced surfaces, like the Chinnaswamy strips used in the last two games - going too hard too early can distort the innings, especially batting first. The lower-order hitters built to storm the finish can find themselves arriving with too many overs still to navigate. Delhi Capitals won a useful toss and exposed that blueprint in a day game. Gujarat did so here last year too. If the conditions hold, the pitch may land the first blow before either batting line-up throws one.
When: RCB vs GT, IPL 2026, April 24 at 19:30 IST
Where: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
What to expect: Pitch No. 6 - the one used for the CSK and LSG games - will be in play for this. Midday temperatures in Bengaluru have continued to rise, affecting pitch preparation. After four innings of 200+ scores, we've seen first-innings totals plummet to 146 and 175 in the last two games. Teams will, as a matter of principle, want to chase on this ground.
Head to Head: RCB 3-3 GT. The Titans have also won 2 of the three fixtures played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, including last season's encounter. All six games in this fixture have been won by the chasing side.
Team News:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Injuries/Availability: No new injuries to report apart from the continued unavailability of Nuwan Thushara.
Tactics & Matchups: Bhuvneshwar Kumar has excellent T20 records against Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler. He has dismissed Buttler seven times and Gill four times and hasn't conceded at above 110 SR to either of them. The GT top-three come into this game having all been dismissed in the Powerplay for the first time, in the last game against Mumbai Indians.
Probable XII: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam Dar
Gujarat Titans
Injuries/Availability: No new injuries to report.
Tactics & Matchups:
Jason Holder, with his height and instinctive back-of-a-length game, could be especially useful at a venue that can offer spongy bounce to hit-the-deck seamers. With Kagiso Rabada finding rhythm, Holder's inclusion may trigger a small reshuffle in Gujarat's XI. Glenn Phillips is one possible casualty, while there is also a case for swapping Shahrukh Khan for an additional top-order batter such as Kumar Kushagra to fill the Phillips gap. That would free Titans to balance the attack differently too - perhaps with a left-arm spinner in R Sai Kishore or Manav Suthar against a right-dominated RCB instead of Ashok Sharma.
Probable XII: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Kumar Kushagra, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, R. Sai Kishore/Manav Suthar
Did you know?
- Kagiso Rabada has the joint-most wickets (7) in the Powerplay in IPL 2026 so far
- Jos Buttler has two ducks and two hundreds in his last five innings vs RCB
- Virat Kohli averages 87.75 against GT. His six scores in this fixture read: 58 (53), 73 (54), 101* (61), 70* (44), 42 (27), 7 (6)
What they said:
"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, RCB Director of Cricket
"We'll remain consistent in the way we go about our batting and our bowling and our [game] altogether, to be perfectly honest with you. That's been something we've been mindful of, is to remain consistent regardless of results. We trust in our method, we trust in the players that we have, in delivering that method and that formula." - Vikram Solanki, GT Director of Cricket
Squads:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Virat Kohli, Philip Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Suyash Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Salam Dar, Venkatesh Iyer, Jordan Cox, Mangesh Yadav, Vicky Ostwal, Jacob Duffy, Swapnil Singh, Nuwan Thushara, Jacob Bethell, Vihaan Malhotra, Abhinandan Singh, Kanishk Chouhan, Satvik Deswal
Gujarat Titans Squad: Shubman Gill(c), Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler(w), Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar, Shahrukh Khan, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, Ashok Sharma, Rahul Tewatia, Jason Holder, Manav Suthar, Kulwant Khejroliya, Anuj Rawat, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Luke Wood, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Kumar Kushagra, Arshad Khan, Gurnoor Brar, Nishant Sindhu, Connor Esterhuizen