In today’s match, the Gujarat Titans require assistance to obtain the playoffs, whilst RCB is very much on a roll with ambitions of securing 1st place or becoming the champion team. With both teams being so strong, there have been many people who believe that this matchup will not only be the best of IPL 2026 between these two teams, but also one of the most exciting – regardless of who wins this match and you can enjoy the match through Reddy Anna ID.
The stakes couldn’t be higher for Gujarat
Gill has been part of the run-scoring, and with Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler, forms a top three who has scored an appalling 70% of Gujarat’s runs this season. The trouble is that the moment one of them gets axed, the Gujarat middle order has collapsed.
There’s their bowling woe, too. One of T20’s most consistent spinners over the past ten years, Rashid Khan, has experienced a remarkable slump in form. He leaked 21 runs in a single over against the CSK, and 2-49 in four overs against RCB at Chinnaswamy. In his final five innings he has conceded runs at a rate of 10 – an unimaginable rate for any bowler, let alone the world’s best leg-spinner. GT would hope that their star spinner might find some of his deadly bite back against one of the most potent batting orders in the tournament.
RCB: defending champions
While GT have struggled with inconsistency, Royal Challengers Bengaluru have been holding true to their form of the defending champions. Rajat Patidar’s cohort sent Delhi Capitals home for a meagre 75 in their previous game, before closing them out for the loss of just nine wickets.
As usual, the lead heart in RCB’s batting is Kohli. He is in blistering form this year, having amassed 351 runs in eight innings at an average of 58.50 and a seemingly superhuman strike-rate of 162.50 with three fifties. Most notably, Kohli has an average of more than 85 against Gujarat Titans in the IPL – making this a game he will be eager to play. He is also 49 runs short of matching Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to become the leading run-scorer in IPL 2026, making this an individual goal also.
Yet RCB are nothing but one-man. Their fast bowlers have been impressive. Josh Hazlewood extracted figures of 4/12 against Delhi Capitals, cutting through their line-up with an inspired burst in the powerplay. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been consistently dangerous throughout and Krunal Pandya has been excellent in the middle phase, flouting traditional match-ups to some extent even against lefties. RCB’s per-over run rate across phases (11.0) is only second to the Punjab Kings this season.
The battle within the battle
The evening’s most enticing head-to-head encounter is IPL superstar Virat Kohli versus Kagiso Rabada. The South African fastbowler has had a very inconsistent season so far – struggling initially but hitting his stride in the last few games, currently averaging 8.30 in the past four games. Rabada’s ability to bowl with high bounce and seam that can go either way, allowing him to bowl at any stage in the game, makes him deadly for GT against a volatile batting side like RCB. A cheap dismissal of Kohli by Rabada would have a big psychological effect on the game. If Kohli is in form, Gujarat could be in for a long trip home.
The pitch and conditions
The weather in Ahmedabad is extremely hot, hitting 43. As a consequence this pitch will have been watered a bit more than normal, which should lead to a relatively flat pitch of grass on a sprinkling of red dirt that should deliver everything to both sides. This is the ground where the IPL final was played last year when RCB made a famous defence of 190 – the team in town will draw some encouragement from this fact. Look to the team winning the toss to set up an imposing total bat first under lights.
Winner
RCB are in good form, Virat and the team is hungry. With Kohli hitting the ball and Hazlewood opening up early wickets, Gujarat will be battling. RCB to win and go top of the table according to the source of Reddyannaofficial.