Ahmedabad, April 30 (IANS) Gujarat Titans (GT) have won the toss and elected to bowl first against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Match 42 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday. Both teams are unchanged.
GT had a mediocre start to their season. In eight matches played, the Shubman Gill-led side has won four and lost as many matches and is currently placed fifth on the IPL 2026 points table. They are coming to the contest after registering a dominating 8-wicket win against Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
While RCB are performing to their best in the ongoing season and are placed at the second spot in the points table with six wins in eight matches. They are also coming to the match after an emphatic 9-wicket win against the Delhi Capitals (DC).
After winning the toss, Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill said, “We are going to bowl first. The surface gives swing in the first 4-5 overs. Want to chase in case there is dew. These two games will determine how far we go in the tournament. They are playing some good cricket; they are the defending champions. The mood is nice and light. It’s about having the right attitude. Same team as the last game.”
While after losing the toss, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain Rajat Patidar said, “We were looking to field first. I don’t think the grass cover will help much. Hope we put up a good total on the board. The way we played the first half of IPL was good to see. It’s a positive sign for us; we are looking forward to it. We’re playing with the same team.”
RCB and GT are facing each other for the second time in the season. In their first outing at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the home team dominated completely and beat the visitors by 5 wickets.
RCB have a slight edge in the head-to-head record between the sides. In seven matches played so far, RCB have won four games while GT have come victorious on three outings. Their first-ever meeting came on April 30, 2022, which was won by the Gujarat Titans.
Playing XIs:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Jacob Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma
Impact substitutes: Rasikh Dar, Jordan Cox, Mangesh Yadav, Vicky Ostwal, Venkatesh Iyer
Gujarat Titans: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(wk), Shahrukh Khan, Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Arshad Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Manav Suthar
Impact substitutes: Rahul Tewatia, Anuj Rawat, Glenn Phillips, Kulwant Khejroliya, Nishant Sindhu
–IANS
sds/bsk/
