Top News

RCB vs GT: Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Titans will face each other in the Indian Premier League 2026 on Friday at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. This match is considered very important, because both the teams are trying to establish a strong position in the points table. RCB would like to end their home leg with a win, while Gujarat Titans will look to make a big statement on the away field.

RCB has played better this season on its home ground than last time. The team has won three out of four matches here. After the loss to Delhi Capitals, the team got a five-day break, which gave the players a chance to both rest and practice. The good news is that Virat Kohli has recovered from a mild ankle problem and is ready for the match.

RCB eyes fourth win at home
The batting thinking of both the teams will also be different in this match. RCB plays aggressively from the beginning and relies on scoring runs quickly. Virat Kohli has also changed his style this time. Whereas Gujarat Titans builds its innings slowly, saves wickets and makes a big attack in the end. This strategy has been effective for the team so far.

There will be a real war between the bowlers
The real battle of this match could be between fast bowlers. Gujarat has lethal bowlers like Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna and Kagiso Rabada. The strength of RCB is Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood. If there is even a little movement on the pitch, the problems for the batsmen may increase.

Question regarding Gujarat’s middle order
Not much change is expected in the playing eleven of RCB. Although there is definitely discussion about Jacob Bethel, due to team balance, Romerio Shepherd may get a chance. On the other hand, Gujarat’s middle order batting is in question. Rahul Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan are under constant pressure. In such a situation, Kumar Kushagra can be given a chance. There is also a possibility of Jason Holder making his debut.

Talking about records, Virat Kohli is just one step away from his 300 Indian Premier League sixes. Once he achieves this feat, he will move higher in the special list. Whereas Sai Sudarshan is close to completing 2000 runs. He has scored 1928 runs in just 46 innings.

How will the pitch be?
Talking about the pitch report, this ground has seen big scores before also. RCB had scored 249 runs here against Chennai. This time the match is at night and the grass on the wicket has also been kept evenly. In such a situation, runs are expected to rain once again.

RCB’s probable playing-12: 1 Virat Kohli, 2 Phil Salt, 3 Devdutt Padikkal, 4 Rajat Patidar (captain), 5 Tim David, 6 Jitesh Sharma (wicket-keeper), 7 Romario Shepherd/Jacob Bethel, 8 Krunal Pandya, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Suyyash Sharma, 11 Josh Hazlewood, 12 Rasikh Dar.

GT’s probable playing-12: 1 Shubman Gill (captain), 2 B Sai Sudarshan, 3 Jos Buttler (wk), 4 Washington Sundar, 5 Shahrukh Khan/Kumar Kushagra, 6 Jason Holder/Glenn Phillips, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Mohammed Siraj 11 Prasidh Krishna, 12 Ashok Sharma.