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IPL 2026 RCB vs GT Qualifier 1 Today:The Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) has now reached its most exciting and final stage. To raise the heartbeats of cricket lovers, a high-voltage match will be played today i.e. Tuesday (May 26) at the beautiful Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium in Dharamshala. In this first qualifier match, defending champion Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will face second-placed Gujarat Titans (GT) in the table. Both the teams have geared up for this big match and both the teams are ready to give their all to secure the ticket to the final on the field.
The meaning of this match is very big for both the teams. Whichever team wins today will get a direct ticket for the grand final to be held in Ahmedabad on Sunday. At the same time, the journey of the losing team will not end here. The losing team will get another chance in Qualifier 2 to be held in Mullanpur on Friday, where it will face the winner of the eliminator match between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Rajasthan Royals (RR).
Both have equal strength in league stage, net run rate turned the tables
If we look at the entire season of IPL 2026, the performance of both the teams during the league stage has been almost the same. Both RCB and Gujarat Titans registered impressive wins in 9-9 of their 14 matches. Both the teams have reached the playoffs with 18 points each. However, due to better net run rate, RCB secured the first position in the points table, while Gujarat Titans had to be content with the second position. This is the reason why today’s competition is being considered equal.
RCB captures silver, orange and purple caps with Phil Salt’s return
Just before this big match, a very good news is coming out from the RCB camp. The team’s strong opening batsman Phil Salt is all set to return to the team after recovering from a finger injury. He could not play the last few matches of the league stage due to injury. RCB’s batting looks the most dangerous in the tournament at the moment. The team has the best batsman in the world in the form of Orange Cap holder Virat Kohli. Along with this, Venkatesh Iyer, captain Rajat Patidar and Tim David, who turned the match in the last overs, are in amazing form.
Talking about bowling, Purple Cap holder Bhuvneshwar Kumar and foreign fast bowler Josh Hazlewood are continuously taking wickets in the initial overs. However, lack of consistency in the spin department could cause a bit of trouble for RCB today.
Gunpowder in Gujarat’s top order, but middle order becomes a big problem
On the other hand, the top order of Gujarat Titans has proved to be a disaster for the opposition bowlers throughout this season. The trio of captain Shubhman Gill, Sai Sudarshan and Jos Buttler has given the team a stormy start in almost every match. Washington Sundar’s brilliant batting in recent matches has further increased the confidence of the team management.
But the biggest problem with Gujarat is their middle order. Statistics bear witness to the fact that excluding the top 4 batsmen, no other batsman from Gujarat has been able to cross the 100-run mark this season. If the top order disintegrates quickly today, Gujarat may be in trouble. However, the team’s bowling is very strong, where the pair of Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada are wreaking havoc in the powerplay with their swing and pace.
A close fight and a toss in the head-to-head record
When it comes to the history between RCB and Gujarat Titans, the match seems to be completely 50-50. In the history of IPL, both the teams have come face to face a total of 8 times, out of which Bengaluru has won 4 times and Gujarat has won 4 times.
The role of toss is going to be most important in today’s match. Regarding the Dharamshala pitch, cricket experts believe that the teams batting first here have a much better record. In such a situation, whichever captain wins the toss, he would like to put a big score on the board first. The live toss of the match will take place at 7:00 PM and exactly half an hour later i.e. at 7:30 PM, the first ball of the match will be bowled.
Probable playing 11 of both the teams for the match
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB): Virat Kohli, Venkatesh Iyer/Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar (captain), Krunal Pandya, Devdutt Padikkal, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyyash Sharma, Rasik Salaam.
Impact Player Options: Tim David, Kanishk Chauhan, Swapnil Singh, Abhinandan Singh, Jordan Cox.
Gujarat Titans (GT): Shubman Gill (captain), Sai Sudarshan, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Jason Holder, Washington Sundar, Nishant Sindhu, Rashid Khan, Arshad Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj.
Impact Player Options: Rahul Tewatia.
Where will you be able to watch live telecast and online streaming of the match?
If you want to enjoy this great match on TV, then its live telecast in India will be done on Star Sports Network. You can watch the match on Star Sports 2 HD/SD channels with commentary in Hindi, English and other regional languages. At the same time, if you want to watch the match digitally on your mobile, laptop or smart TV, then its live streaming will be available absolutely free on Jio Hotstar app and website.
