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The Gujarat Titans suffered a narrow defeat against the Rajasthan Royals in a closely fought IPL 2026 clash in Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, with fine margins ultimately deciding the outcome. 

Despite having a star-studded bowling lineup, GT’s execution in the bowling department has been nowhere near perfect. The star trio of Kagiso Rabada (2/42), Rashid Khan (1/39), and Mohammed Siraj (1/48) all had their moments but failed to maintain discipline with line and length.  

Speaking after the match, GT batting coach Matthew Hayden admitted that the bowlers were slightly off their game as he dissected his side’s loss in this nail-biting encounter.

"I felt like a lot of our bowlers were just a little bit off their rhythm and their line in particular. KG Rabada's figures, I think, were a bit more expensive than perhaps what he bowled today. I thought he was actually pretty good and same too with Rashid," Hayden was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

Hayden also pointed out that Siraj had an off day, while suggesting that both Rabada and Rashid were slightly unlucky not to pick up more wickets.

"Siraj had an off day, simple as that. When we reviewed his pitch map, he was a little bit too short, a little bit too wide, and that's just a great bowler just having an off day. Whereas I thought Rashid actually could have had a much better day. It could have been a couple more wickets in the wicket column and so too with KG Rabada as well," he continued.

The former Australian opener further elaborated on Rabada’s bowling patterns, noting minor deviations that proved costly in a high-scoring contest.

"If anything, KG bowled a little bit of a leg-stumpy line, back of a length. And short-of-a-length, good-length balls tended to be a fraction wide of off stump. But we're splitting hairs in many ways. Batters have the intent now to score quickly," he said.

However, Hayden acknowledged that such fine margins can make all the difference in T20 cricket, especially in tight finishes like this one.

"It just shows you the margins in these games - this is a loss by six runs - are so small. But the point is definitely noted in terms of the discipline and wides and just those abilities of our bowlers to keep consistently bowling their best ball," the GT batting coach concluded.

With back-to-back defeats, GT will now be keen to address the issues quickly as the tournament progresses. They currently sit at the seventh position in the points table.