Rajasthan Royals Opt to Bat Against Gujarat Titans in High-Stakes IPL 2026 Qualifier 2

New Chandigarh, May 2026 : Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag won the toss and elected to bat first against Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2026 Qualifier 2 clash at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh on Friday.

The much-anticipated encounter will determine which team advances to the final of the tournament, where defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru await at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

There was a brief moment of confusion during the toss procedure as match referee Prakash Bhatt called for a re-spin after RR captain Riyan Parag’s call was reportedly not loud enough. Following the repeat toss, Rajasthan Royals once again won and chose to bat first on what appeared to be a slowing surface.

Speaking after the toss, Parag said Rajasthan wanted to make full use of the conditions before the pitch became slower later in the evening.

“It’s pretty much the same wicket, but I think it slows down towards the backend, and we have the bowlers for those conditions. We just need to play better cricket for 40 overs, and the best team will win,” Parag said.

The young RR skipper also praised the support staff for managing player fitness and recovery during the demanding tournament schedule.

“The support staff have been incredible when it comes to recoveries and handling injuries,” he added.

Rajasthan Royals entered the match unchanged after their impressive 47-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator. Much of their recent success has revolved around the explosive form of young opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who has emerged as one of the standout performers of the season.

Meanwhile, Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill said his side would also have preferred to bat first but remained confident about chasing on the same wicket.

“We would have batted first as well. Forty overs of cricket have already been played on this wicket, and it shouldn’t behave too differently. We have everything to play for now — it’s a now-or-never situation,” Gill said.

GT made one change to their playing XI, bringing back left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore in place of Kulwant Khejroliya. Gujarat Titans are aiming to bounce back strongly after suffering a heavy 92-run defeat to Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Qualifier 1 at Dharamshala.

The clash features several star names on both sides, including England wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler, Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan, South African pacer Kagiso Rabada, and England fast bowler Jofra Archer.

Teams:

Gujarat Titans:
B Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (captain), Jos Buttler (wk), Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, and Mohammed Siraj.

Impact substitutes: Rahul Tewatia, Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Kumar Kushagra, and Arshad Khan.

Rajasthan Royals:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (captain), Donovan Ferreira, Dasun Shanaka, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma, and Yash Raj Punja.

Impact substitutes: Shubham Dubey, Sushant Mishra, Aman Rao Perala, Ravi Bishnoi, and Tushar Deshpande.

Team Maverick