The winner of Qualifier 1 between GT and RR will book a place in the IPL 2026 final against RCB
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's performance could decide the fate of the match
GT routed RR by 77 runs in their last match of IPL 2026
Gujarat Titans (GT) will face Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League 2026 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh on Friday, May 29.
GT took a bashing against RCB as they lost to the defending champions by 92 runs in Qualifier 1. The loss not only hampered GT's final chances but also must have dented their morale before a do-or-die match against RR.
GT have had a pretty one-dimensional approach in the tournament, relying on their sharp bowling attack comprising Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj and Rashid Khan, who have mostly restricted the opposition to a par total, and then GT's reliable top-three chased down the totals.
In case of batting first, GT on a good batting day, have stayed in the range of 200-220 and their bowling has done the rest, but in case of a bad day on the bowling front, they haven't shown the capability of chasing down targets in excess of 220 very often.
So, when they'll be up against the explosive Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, they would want to see him back early; otherwise, he can take the match away from them in no time.
On the other hand, RR are riding high on three consecutive wins, with the latest one against Sunrisers Hyderabad, crashing them out of the tournament, courtesy of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's blitzkrieg.
The 15-year-old teen prodigy smashed 97 runs off just 29 balls, including 12 sixes and five fours, to bat SRH out of the game. He has been RR's most prolific batter with 680 runs in 15 matches, leading the race for the Orange Cap.
However, one of the biggest issues with RR is that they are too reliant on Sooryavanshi to provide them a solid start, and apart from them, there have only been patches of brilliance from other batters without much consistency.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was RR's numero uno batter before Sooryavanshi, has been completely overshadowed by the teen sensation and is currently not looking at his usual best, while Dhruv Jurel has done well at number three but has benefited from the head start provided by Sooryavanshi.
GT Vs RR, IPL 2026 Qualifier 2: Match Details
Venue: Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur
Date: Friday, May 29, 2026
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Captains: Shubman Gill (GT), Riyan Parag (RR)
On-field Umpires: Rohan Pandit, Sam Nogajski
Third Umpire: Adrian Holdstock
League Standings: GT – 2nd, RR – 4th
GT Vs RR, IPL 2026 Qualifier 2: Head-To-Head
Matches: 10
GT: 7
RR: 3
GT Vs RR, IPL 2026 Qualifier 2: Squads
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler, Kumar Kushagra, Shahrukh Khan, Glenn Phillips, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Nishant Sindhu, Rahul Tewatia, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kagiso Rabada, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Ishant Sharma, Jason Holder, Luke Wood, Sai Sudharsan, Connor Esterhuizen, Anuj Rawat, Jayant Yadav, Kulwant Khejroliya, Arshad Khan, Ashok Sharma, Gurnoor Brar.
Rajasthan Royals: Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag (c), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Kwena Maphaka, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Sushant Mishra, Aman Rao Perala, Adam Milne, Kuldeep Sen, Dasun Shanaka, Shubham Dubey, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Vignesh Puthur, Yash Raj Punja, Emanjot Singh Chahal, Brijesh Sharma, Tushar Deshpande.
