Gujarat Titans vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru IPL 2026: RCB may finally give an opportunity to all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer with Phil Salt still uncertain for clash vs GT at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
Updated: April 30, 2026 12:10 PM IST
GT vs RCB IPL 2026: Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will look to continue their dominant run in the IPL 2026 season by completing a hat-trick of wins as they take on Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday. RCB have already defeated GT once this season in Bengaluru by five wickets and will look to maintain the winning record against Shubman Gill’s side.
There are, however, some injury issue with Rajat Patidar’s side currently. England opener Phil Salt missed the last couple of matches for RCB due to injury and was replaced by his English teammate Jacob Bethell at the top with Virat Kohli. But Bethell, who was retained for Rs 2.6 crore by RCB before IPL 2026 season, has failed to fire for his side so far.
It will be interesting to see if former Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer will be given his first game in RCB colours. Iyer, who was bought for Rs 7 crore at the IPL 2026 mini auction last year, had a lengthy training session at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. If the Madhya Pradesh all-rounder does make his first appearance in IPL 2026, it could be at the expense of Rasikh Dar.
But RCB head coach Andy Flower exuded confidence that the side could adapt to any conditions, including the Narendra Modi Stadium. “We’re comfortable with whatever conditions are put in front of us. We believe we have an attack that can exploit different surfaces and a batting unit that can thrive in any situation,” Flower said in the pre-match press conference in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
Shubman Gill’s GT, on the other hand, chose not to play either Prasidh Krishna or young tearaway Ashok Sharma after looking at the spin-friendly conditions in Chennai last Sunday. But the home team maybe tempted to bring one of them back for the clash against RCB at home.
The major cause of concern for GT remains their middle order with the like of M. Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia and Jason Holder yet to fire consistently this season. “So, obviously, you all can see that our top order has been playing maximum number of balls, almost like 15th, 16th over. And as far as preparation is concerned, I can definitely tell you that, you know, we make sure that they are well prepared. We have those facilities here where we can do our open nets and stuff like we had that session yesterday with our lower middle order or our middle order,” GT assistant coach Parthiv Patel said in the pre-match press conference in Ahmedabad.
Eyes: Locked-in.
Focus: Cold.
Motto: PLAY BOLD.This is Emmvee presents RCB Shorts.#PlayBold #ನಮ್ಮRCB #IPL2026 pic.twitter.com/JZkhks35AQ
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) April 30, 2026
Gujarat Titans vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru IPL 2026 match no 42 Predicted 12
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), B Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Washington Sundar, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Manav Suthar, Prasidh Krishna/Ashok Sharma
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt/Jacob Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Dar/Venkatesh Iyer
