New Delhi: A night to forget. That was how Shubman Gill described Gujarat Titans' crushing defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2026 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Tuesday. Gill's decision to bowl first backfired as defending champions RCB piled up a massive 254/5 in 20 overs, the highest total ever recorded in IPL playoff history.
The chase turned into a nightmare for Gujarat Titans as they failed to mount any serious challenge and were bowled out for 162. The disappointment was evident on Gill's face during the post-match presentation as the GT skipper admitted his side would want to move on quickly before heading into Qualifier 2.
Gill on the Defeat
When asked about the pitch behavior, Gill said, "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."
Reflecting on learnings, he added, "Yeah, definitely, this is one of those games that we'd like to forget and start over in Mohali."
RCB's Dominance
With the emphatic victory, RCB sealed a direct place in the IPL 2026 final. Gujarat Titans remain alive in the tournament and will travel to Mullanpur for Qualifier 2, where they face the winner of the Eliminator between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals.
RCB captain Rajat Patidar changed the game after being dropped twice by Gujarat fielders. He attacked almost every bowler and raced to a half-century in just 21 balls. Patidar remained unbeaten on a sensational 93 off 39 balls, smashing five fours and nine towering sixes in one of the greatest playoff knocks in IPL history.
GT also endured a poor outing in the field, leaking crucial runs through misfields and no-balls at key moments. New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy starred with the ball for RCB, claiming three wickets, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rasikh Salam, and Krunal Pandya chipped in with two wickets each.
Fielding and Batting Woes
Addressing fielding errors, Gill said, "It's definitely something that we do address in the team meetings and in the practice sessions. But like I said, I don't think it was a day, the intensity was right there, but under pressure situations, we were not up to the mark."
On the chase, Gill added, "It's all about getting a good start. If you get a good power play 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 could have been chaseable."
GT's innings witnessed one of the unluckiest dismissals of the tournament as opener Sai Sudharsan got out hit wicket in bizarre fashion. He had started aggressively with two boundaries off the first two balls against Duffy before the bat slipped out of his hands and crashed onto the stumps. Gill commented, "You don't see that kind of dismissal very often. So that was very unfortunate."
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