Big picture: Two similar teams yet poles apart
On Friday night, when New Chandigarh lights up to host Qualifier 2 of IPL 2026, two teams with a lot of similarities yet poles apart in their philosophy will come face to face for the ticket to the final.
Gujarat Titans (GT), who are coming off a defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Qualifier 1, and Rajasthan Royals (RR), who beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Eliminator, have plenty in common. Both rely heavily on their top three, both have a weak middle order, and both have incisive new-ball pairs. But their approach to the game could not have been more different.
Even in the age of the Impact Player, GT's openers, Shubman Gill and B Sai Sudharsan, prefer a low-risk approach to collect their runs. Their scoring rate in the powerplay this season has been 9.66, which puts them in the bottom half. They are happy with just-above-par totals and back their bowling unit to defend those.
RR, meanwhile, are led by the 15-year-old phenom Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who tries to send every ball over the boundary. Gill and Sai Sudharsan combined have hit 59 sixes this season; Sooryavanshi alone has smashed 65. Even with Yashasvi Jaiswal not at his best, RR's run rate of 11.66 in the first six overs has been the best in the tournament.
GT are really vulnerable when a team posts a well-above-par total batting first. RCB did that in Qualifier 1 with 254 for 5, after which GT had little chance. Another team capable of doing that is RR - they did it against SRH in the Eliminator with 243 for 8. While GT's bowling attack is much stronger than SRH's, if Sooryavanshi gets going, it will not be easy to stop him and RR.
That brings us to the toss. The chasing teams have a 43-27 win-loss record this season (excluding a tie and a washout). However, both playoff games so far have been won by the team batting first. In fact, when it comes to the knockouts, it has been pretty even-stevens across the IPL's 19 seasons: 36-35 in favour of the team batting first.
Therefore, if the coin lands in RR's favour on Friday, they might consider batting first and batting GT out of the game. Moreover, the match will be played on the same pitch where the Eliminator was held. So chasing might not be easy on a worn-out surface with little dew expected.
Form guide
Gujarat Titans LWLWW (last five matches, most recent first)
Rajasthan Royals WWWLL
Key question
Team news
Since it's a used pitch, GT could consider bringing in a spinner like Manav Suthar or R Sai Kishore for Kulwant Khejroliya, who went for 31 in his two overs in Qualifier 1.
Gujarat Titans (probable): 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 B Sai Sudharsan, 3 Jos Buttler (wk), 4 Nishant Sindhu, 5 Washington Sundar, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Jason Holder, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Manav Suthar/R Sai Kishore, 11 Mohammed Siraj, 12 Prasidh Krishna
RR are likely to stick with the winning combination.
Rajasthan Royals (probable): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 3 Dhruv Jurel (wk), 4 Riyan Parag (capt), 5 Donovan Ferreira, 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Nandre Burger, 10 Sushant Mishra, 11 Brijesh Sharma, 12 Yash Raj Punja
Ambati Rayudu on why it was the wrong decision for GT to chase
In the spotlight: Kagiso Rabada and Jofra Archer
Kagiso Rabada and Jofra Archer have been the spearheads for their respective teams, and there is little to separate them. Rabada has 26 wickets from 15 games, Archer 24 from 15. Rabada has an economy rate of 9.48, Archer 9.17. While Rabada has often bowled three overs in the powerplay, RR tend to save Archer for the death as well. While one eye on Friday will be on the opening pairs, another will be on these two fast bowlers and who has a bigger say on the result.
Stats and trivia
Sooryavanshi has hit Rabada for 25 runs off 14 balls and Mohammed Siraj for 38 off 20.
Rabada, however, has a good record against Jaiswal, having dismissed him three times in 27 balls for 27 runs.
Archer has dismissed Gill three times in 30 balls while conceding just 36 runs. But he is yet to dismiss Sai Sudharsan, who has scored 44 off 33 balls (strike rate 133.33) against him.
Jos Buttler has taken Archer for 109 runs off 56 balls (strike rate 194.64) for two dismissals in all T20s.
Rashid Khan has kept Riyan Parag and Ravindra Jadeja quiet. Parag has a strike rate of 90.00 against him and Jadeja only 72.09.
RR have won all four matches they have played in New Chandigarh. GT have one win and two losses from their three games there.
Pitch and conditions
New Chandigarh has been a high-scoring venue, with targets of 220 and 223 being chased easily earlier in the season. But a worn-out pitch could change the scene. There is a chance of rain, even a hailstorm, around 1pm but it shouldn't affect the game. Thursday was overcast and saw the pitch covered in the evening because of heavy breeze.
Quotes
"He [Archer] is one of the best, if not the best, in world cricket. When he is bowling 150 clicks, you don't ask him to bowl slow. You don't ask him to do anything, you just remind him if at all he needs any reminding of. Otherwise, he just does his job."
RR captain Riyan Parag on Archer
"Everybody has their way of playing. We have our own style of playing. Even in the first half of the tournament, when we were not doing that great - we were just doing okay - we still stuck to our process. We have trust in our ability; we know what we can do. And that is something which we will try to do tomorrow as well. If we go out there and execute our plans, we can win it."
GT assistant coach Parthiv Patel on his team's style of play
