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Former South Africa skipper and RCB legend AB de Villiers raised questions on Gujarat Titans' batting strategy during the IPL 2026 summit clash against RCB at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

The debate surfaced when Shubman Gill departed very early in the innings. While many expected star batter Jos Buttler to walk in, the franchise instead sent in left-handed batter Nishant Sindhu at No. 3.

De Villiers, speaking during live telecast, acknowledged that he could understand the rationale behind the decision, but he himself was not fond of it.

The dismissal of Gill provided an early breakthrough to the RCB in the summit clash. Pressure was on Gujarat Titans and there was an expectation from their top batter Jos Buttler to walk in and take the responsibility of scoring runs in that crucial phase. However, the franchise sent in Nishant Sindhu instead.

Reacting to the move, the former South Africa cricketer explained that this move was made to shield Jos Buttler from the new ball and utilize him for the later part of the innings.

AB de Villiers said:

"Don't want to risk Buttler early, pushing him back. I can relate to this because I was in that position throughout my career. So, there are two sides of the story, and they have decided to go ahead with that tonight. Push Buttler back, make the batting lineup seem a bit deeper."

After the previous point, the former RCB star put his opinion forward more clearly.

"It's defensive, and I don't like it. Is that clear enough?" he stated.

Nishant Sindhu managed to score 20 runs off 18 deliveries and was later dismissed by Rasikh Salam Dar.

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Being put in to bat, Gujarat Titans posted 155/8 after their allotted 20 overs. It was Washington Sundar's unbeaten half century (50 off 37 balls) which was crucial for GT. Jos Buttler scored 19 runs off 23 balls, whilst Arshad Khan came out to bat in the latter part of the innings and smashed 15 off six balls.

RCB's bowlers did well to keep the pressure on GT throughout the match. Rasikh Salam Dar was the most impactful bowler, picking up 3/27. Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar each bagged 2 wickets, whilst Krunal Pandya picked up one.