IPL 2026: Rajat Patidar wins toss; RCB opt to bowl first against GT

Rajat Patidar and Shubman Gill (Pic: BCCI)

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won the toss and elected to bowl first against the Gujarat Titans (GT) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. This is RCB's final group-stage game at the venue before they shift their base to Raipur.

RCB are currently third on the points table with eight points, while GT sit seventh with six points.

After winning the toss, RCB captain Rajat Patidar said he preferred to bowl first and hoped his team would bounce back from their disappointing home loss to Delhi Capitals. He also confirmed that Jacob Bethell will replace the injured Phil Salt in the playing XI.

"I feel this will be a bowl-first pitch. As you all know, chasing gives us clarity about the result, the score and the target. One change - Salt is injured, Bethell comes in. One great point this season is that we are assessing the wicket and situation pretty well. There's a lot of planning behind it. Usually, this is a good batting wicket, but there's no grass on it, so it might be a bit tacky in the first innings," Rajat Patidar said.

GT captain Shubman Gill said he would have also preferred to bowl first and confirmed that Jason Holder will play his first match of the season.

"Chasing is generally good here, but hopefully we'll have a good game. It's about assessing conditions early, getting off to a good start and building a strong foundation. Games like the one against Mumbai Indians can happen in a long tournament, but we're focusing on the positives. Two changes: Jason Holder comes in, and Manav Suthar is back," Shubman Gill said.

Confirmed Playing XI for both teams:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Salam Dar

Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Washington Sundar, Shahrukh Khan, Jason Holder, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj