Gujarat Titans (GT) suffered a crushing 92-run defeat at the hands of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 in Dharamsala on Tuesday (May 26).
Chasing 255 to win, the Titans got off to a disastrous start, losing five wickets in the powerplay. Rahul Tewatia (68 off 43) was the lone bright spot as GT’s innings eventually folded for 162 in 19.3 overs.
Speaking after the game, GT skipper Shubman Gill explicitly blamed poor fielding, including dropped catches and subpar ground work, for losing momentum after the 13th over.
“(Surprised with the way the pitch behaved?) I mean, not really. I think we were going pretty well up until the 12th, 13th over, and I don't think our fielding was at par, dropping a couple of catches, and then our ground fielding was not up to the mark,” Gill said at the post-match presentation.
“It's definitely something that we do address in the team meetings and also in the practice sessions. But like I said, I don't think it was our day, the intensity was right there, but under pressure situations, we were not up to the mark,” he added.
Despite RCB's massive total of 254/5, Gill believed the target was reachable due to the quick outfield and batting-friendly pitch, provided they had secured a strong start in the powerplay.
“(Were you confident walking out to bat with the chase?) I mean, it's all about getting a good start, you know. If you get a good power play and on a ground like this we know the ball travels and the outfield is also very quick. So if you would have gotten off to a good start in the power play, any target with the kind of way the wicket was playing and the kind of ground that we were playing at, it could have been chaseable,” he remarked.
Gill referred to Sai Sudharsan's unfortunate hit-wicket dismissal as a rare and unlucky moment that further hampered their chase.
“(On Sudharsan's dismissal) Yeah, I mean, you don't see that kind of dismissal very often. So that was very unfortunate,” he concluded.
Gujarat Titans will now play the winner of the Eliminator clash between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 on Friday (May 29) in New Chandigarh for a place in the final.
