Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) recognised early on Tuesday that this wasn't a match they could play conventionally. In an era where players and coaches retreat into the safety of cliches - the age-old "we focus on our strengths and don't look too much at the opposition" - RCB revealed a deliberate effort to unsettle Gujarat Titans (GT) in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2026.
RCB had to take more risks than usual in order to succeed against a side that has chased targets down more often than not - Shubman Gill and B Sai Sudharsan, in the main, had turned chases into assembly-line work. One glided through innings with old-school assurance, the other batted with the certainty of a player built for all three formats.
Together, they had already aggregated more than 700 runs as an opening pair - the most this season - and had made targets appear smaller than they really were. RCB knew they needed way more than par.
"We kind of put ourselves under a little bit of healthy pressure and said, 'We need to try and take the game beyond them if we can'," Mo Bobat, the RCB director of cricket, said. "We had aggressive intent from ball one, mainly out of respect for the opposition. We know how good a team they are and the quality of their top order. We wanted to push the game beyond them as best we could."
The clearest sign that RCB had caused a few flutters came as early as the fifth over, when Gill had already retreated to plan B. Match after match, Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj had bowled almost uninterrupted through the powerplay. GT had the most economical powerplay bowling in the competition, and the most wickets in that phase. But four overs in against RCB, Gill had already brought on Jason Holder. RCB's powerplay salvo had challenged GT to deviate from set plans.
The previous two matches in Dharamsala in IPL 2026 had both been won comfortably by the chasing side. And GT, astonishingly playing their first-ever game here, had hoped for the trend to continue. RCB, too, would have bowled first had they won the toss, Bobat said later. Turns out, losing it may actually have helped unlock what they had planned for.
It forced them to commit fully to the only route they believed could work: trying to drag GT out of their comfort zone. Even their selection reflected this thinking. They effectively went in with one batter fewer, instead of stacking themselves until No. 8, just to create flexibility with their impact player strategy. Eventually, they summoned Romario Shepherd, but long after GT had already crashed and burned in the powerplay by losing five wickets - the first time that has happened. They could just as easily have called upon another seamer or even Suyash Sharma for some bowling insurance.
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"It was primarily conditions-based," Bobat explained. We had the benefit of playing a game here previously and had an idea of what the wicket might do, even though that was a day game and this was an evening game. We used our impact player slightly differently today compared to previous matches. It ended up being a decent luxury because we didn't use all our batters and could think more specifically about what we needed in the second innings.
It spoke of how deeply RCB had thought through this contest - not merely backing their strengths, but tailoring strategy, selection and tempo specifically for GT and the surface in front of them.
Just recently , Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had shown the rest of the pack a possible blueprint at Eden Gardens. Until then, most teams had approached GT cautiously, trying merely to survive Rabada and Siraj before counter-attacking later. KKR flipped that script entirely. Finn Allen attacked the new ball, disrupted lengths before GT's quicks could settle, and most importantly, took the game beyond GT's reach with a stunning 35-ball 93 on the way to an imposing total of 247.
In many ways, that defeat - and now this one - revealed the few limitations GT have. Virat Kohli, Venkatesh Iyer and Devdutt Padikkal challenged their lengths immediately, like Allen had in Kolkata, before Rajat Patidar waltzed through to play a knock for the ages.
There had already been hints of this approach from RCB when the sides met earlier in Ahmedabad, when Kohli went after Rabada and took five boundaries off him. But this felt even bolder. Rabada's first three deliveries to Kohli in the second over beat him completely. There was seam movement, bounce and zip off the deck. The signs were ominous. And yet, within minutes, Kohli was up and running.
The same Rabada, who had spent the season suffocating batters in the powerplay, ended up conceding 39 in his first three overs - the most expensive he has been this season in the first six overs. RCB's powerplay stood out for the tempo as much as for their shot selection, because so many boundaries early on were hit off deliveries that weren't necessarily poor.
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In Ahmedabad, RCB had lost their way after a blistering start. Here, they had their captain to thank for a wonderful resurrection when a similar trend threatened to unravel after Holder dismissed Kohli and Padikkal in the same over. It wasn't particularly pretty initially; Patidar was 16 off 11 at one stage, and he was put down when on 20. The switch was ferocious without it seeming like Patidar was playing a shot in anger. It left GT stunned.
Once RCB plundered 114 runs in the final six overs courtesy Patidar's onslaught - he made 71 off his final 19 balls - the tempo of the game changed. GT had never chased anything remotely like this before - they hadn't scored more than 233 in a chase. Suddenly, this was no longer a pursuit their top order could ease through clinically.
RCB knew early wickets would do it for them. They got two. Sai Sudharsan was out hit wicket and Gill fell to Bhuvneshwar Kumar's mastery in an eerily similar fashion to how he had against Trent Boult in Qualifier 2 last season - looking to whip one across the line against the angle coming in. Then it was lbw. Here, it was bowled.
Gill's long walk back, and the frustrated tap on his helmet as he took his seat, told you a story. GT had been outsmarted and outplayed.