Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has criticized the scheduling of the IPL 2026 final, arguing it should have been postponed by a day to ensure a fairer contest after the Gujarat Titans (GT) faced severe weather-related travel disruptions.
The summit clash went ahead as planned on Sunday (May 31) at the Narendra Modi Stadium, where the Shubman Gill-led side is facing the defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
The Titans secured their spot in the final by defeating Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Qualifier 2 in New Chandigarh on Friday (May 29) night.
Heavy rainfall across north-western India on Saturday (May 30) grounded their scheduled charter flight out of Chandigarh, and the team finally landed in Ahmedabad around 10:45 PM and checked into their hotel closer to midnight.
Gavaskar stressed that players need proper rest and that the underlying anxiety of not knowing when a flight will take off causes unnecessary mental fatigue. He strongly believed the BCCI should have pushed the marquee match to the reserve day (Monday) to restore competitive balance.
"Yes, definitely," Gavaskar told India Today when asked whether the final should have been pushed back by a day.
"Make no mistake, players require rest. You didn't know when your flight was taking off, so there was anxiousness. Which means you are mentally also off apart from the physical toll."
"I thought with a reserve day in place, considering what happened was completely unexpected, they could have pushed the final to tomorrow, just to be a little fair to the Gujarat Titans team," he added.
RCB advanced to the final after defeating GT in Qualifier 1 in Dharamsala on Tuesday (May 26) and had nearly five days to rest, recuperate and prepare for the final.
On the other hand, Gujarat Titans had to fly from Dharamsala to New Chandigarh to play Qualifier 2 before traveling to Ahmedabad for the title clash.
Traditionally, IPL playoffs are held across two venues. This season, however, the playoffs were expanded across three distinct cities, increasing logistical challenges.
Since the playoff format began, the team that wins Qualifier 1 has lifted the IPL trophy in 12 out of 15 seasons. Between 2018 and 2025, every single IPL title has been won by the team that won Qualifier 1.
