IPL 2026 Qualifier 2: Gujarat Titans vs Rajasthan Royals Preview

Chandigarh. On Friday night, as Qualifier-2 of IPL 2026 begins in New Chandigarh, two teams with many similarities but completely different philosophies will clash for a ticket to the final.

Gujarat Titans, who came after being defeated by Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Qualifier-1, and Rajasthan Royals, who defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator, have many similarities. Both teams are heavily reliant on their top three batsmen, both have weak middle orders, and both have sharp bowlers for the new ball. However, their approach to the game is completely different.

Even in this era of impact players, Gujarat's openers Shubman Gill and B Sai Sudharsan prefer a less risky strategy to score runs. Their scoring rate in the powerplay this season is 9.66, which is towards the lower end. They are content with an average score and rely on their bowling unit to defend it.

On the other hand, Rajasthan is led by the 15-year-old young star Vaibhav Suryavanshi. He tries to hit every ball for a boundary. This season, Gill and Sudharsan together have hit 59 sixes, while Suryavanshi alone has hit 65 sixes. Even when Yashasvi Jaiswal is not in his best form, Rajasthan's run rate in the first 6 overs is 11.66, which is the best in this competition.

Gujarat looks very weak when the team batting first sets a huge total. When Bengaluru scored 254 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in Qualifier-1, Gujarat's chances of winning were very slim.

Rajasthan is another team capable of setting such a huge total. In the Eliminator against Hyderabad, they scored 243 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. Although Gujarat's bowling is much stronger than Hyderabad's, if Suryavanshi gets going, it will not be easy to stop him and Rajasthan.

In this situation, the toss becomes important. This season, the win-loss record for teams chasing targets is 43-27 (excluding ties and abandoned matches). However, the teams batting first have won both playoff matches so far. In the knockout stage of the 19 seasons of IPL, this statistic is almost equal.

Therefore, if the toss favors Rajasthan on Friday, they will try to knock Gujarat out of the game by batting first. Also, this match will be played on the same pitch where the Eliminator was played. Therefore, chasing a target on an old pitch may not be easy, and the possibility of dew is also less.

• Head to Head

Gujarat has an edge in the head-to-head record. A total of 10 matches have been played between them so far, in which Gujarat has won 7 matches and Rajasthan has won 3 matches.

Both teams are on equal footing this season. Gujarat won the last match by 77 runs. Before that, Rajasthan had won by 6 wickets.

Key Players

• Rajasthan reliant on Suryavanshi and Archer:

Rajasthan Royals is currently heavily reliant on Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Jofra Archer. Both these players played important roles in the team's victory in the Eliminator. Vaibhav is the highest run-scorer of the ongoing season with 680 runs, while Jofra Archer is the team's highest wicket-taker with 24 wickets.

This season, Yashasvi Jaiswal has looked pale in front of Suryavanshi's brilliance. Dhruv Jurel has played useful innings at number three. Captain Riyan Parag admitted that the team could reach 260 runs against Sunrisers, but the batting faltered in the death overs. The team will want to fix this weakness.

Sai Sudharsan has a chance to win the Orange Cap:

Gujarat Titans' batting is largely dependent on Sai Sudharsan (652 runs), Shubman Gill (618 runs), and Jos Buttler (498 runs). In the last match against Bengaluru, the team was all out for 162 runs after the top three batsmen got out early.

In Qualifier-1, Bengaluru's batsmen thrashed Gujarat's bowlers. In such a situation, Gujarat will want to improve its bowling and fielding performance. Kagiso Rabada is second in the list of highest wicket-takers this season with 26 wickets.

• Rabada and Archer in focus

Kagiso Rabada and Jofra Archer are the main weapons for their respective teams, and there is not much difference between them. Rabada has taken 26 wickets in 15 matches, while Archer has taken 24 wickets in 15 matches. Rabada's economy rate is 9.48, while Archer's is 9.17. Rabada often bowls three overs in the powerplay.

Rajasthan, on the other hand, saves Archer for the death overs as well. On Friday, one eye will be on the opening pair, and another eye will be on who has more impact between these two fast bowlers and the outcome of the match.

• High-scoring game expected in Mullanpur

Another high-scoring game is expected at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur. Scores of over 200 have been made in all the last four matches here. Out of these, targets have been chased twice, and scores have been defended twice. In the last match, Rajasthan scored 243 runs, in response to which Hyderabad was all out for 196.

• 60 to 70 percent chance of rain

On the day of the match, the temperature in New Chandigarh can range from 23 degrees Celsius to 37 degrees Celsius. However, the threat of rain looms over this match. Meteorologist Shivendra Singh of the Meteorological Center Chandigarh has said that there is a 60 to 70 percent chance of rain in Chandigarh-Mohali. It may rain after noon. If the match is canceled due to rain, Rajasthan will be at a disadvantage. Gujarat will enter the final based on the points table. There is also no 'reserve day' for this Eliminator-2.

Team News

Since this pitch has been used before, Gujarat might consider giving a chance to spinners like Manav Suthar or R Sai Kishore in place of Kulwant Khejroliya. Kulwant conceded 31 runs in his two overs in Qualifier-1.

Gujarat Titans (Probable): 1. Shubman Gill (Captain), 2. B Sai Sudharsan, 3. Jos Buttler (Wicketkeeper), 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.

Rajasthan Royals is likely to continue with the winning team.

• Rajasthan Royals (Probable): 1. Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2. Vaibhav Suryavanshi, 3. Dhruv Jurel (Wicketkeeper), 4. Riyan Parag (Captain), 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.

Statistics and Interesting Facts

• Suryavanshi has scored 25 runs off Rabada's 14 balls and 38 runs off Mohammed Siraj's 20 balls.
• However, Rabada's record against Jaiswal is good. He has dismissed Jaiswal three times, conceding only 27 runs in 27 balls.
• Archer has dismissed Gill three times, conceding only 36 runs in 30 balls. However, he has not been able to dismiss Sai Sudharsan. Sudharsan has scored 44 runs off Archer's 33 balls (strike rate 133.33).
• In T20 cricket, Jos Buttler has scored 109 runs off Archer's 56 balls (strike rate 194.64) and has been dismissed twice.
• Rashid Khan has kept Riyan Parag and Ravindra Jadeja quiet. Parag's strike rate against him is 90.00, while Jadeja's is only 72.09.
• Rajasthan has won all four matches played in New Chandigarh. Gujarat has won one and lost two of the three matches played there.

What they said?

Rajasthan captain Riyan Parag said about Archer, 'He is one of the best in world cricket. When he is bowling at 150 kph, you don't tell him to bowl slow. You don't tell him anything, rather if there is anything to explain, you just explain it. Otherwise, he does his job himself.'

Gujarat Titans' assistant coach Parthiv Patel said about his team's playing style, 'Everyone has their own way of playing. We also have our own way of playing. Even when we didn't perform very well in the first half of the tournament, we continued with our process. We believe in our abilities, we know what we can do. Tomorrow also we will try to do the same. If we go to the field and play according to our plan, we can win.'