RCB eye second consecutive IPL final berth against stacked Gujarat Titans unit

In less than 24 hours, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru step onto the pitch seeking their second consecutive IPL final berth. Concluding the league stages in the pole position of the points table, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru will collide against the formidable Gujarat Titans in Himachal Pradesh.

These two teams have met twice in the ongoing iteration of the tournament. RCB won the first game, putting up a solid batting show while Gujarat Titans ran away with the second game despite a solid fightback from the Royal Challengers. RCB will be coming to this clash on the back of a defeat against SRH in a high-scoring battle while Gujarat Titans will be arriving in Dharamsala on the back of a massive win against Chennai Super Kings.

The Royal Challengers will be buoyed by the return of Phil Salt while Venkatesh Iyer being in form will simply add to the depth of the squad. With Rajat Patidar and Krunal Pandya finding their rhythm in the last game against SRH, it will only be good omens for RCB.

Gujarat’s batting unit is in sensational nick with scores of 229, 168, 218 and 229 in their last four games. One can expect these two sides to come into the game with immense firepower and when they meet, expect nothing short of a cracker, considering the fact that the final berth will be up for grabs.

Venue Watch

The surface in Dharamsala has offered a lot of assistance for the batters. With the bounce being true, batters can rely on the ball to come nicely to the bat and once the new ball loses its sheen, it can be an absolute slaughterhouse for the bowlers. The presence of dew can be a difference maker with batting getting a lot easier in the second half but if dew doesn’t come on, then it will be a tightly contested clash of two phenomenal teams, relying on their talents to navigate a deadbeat track.

Match detail:

Match: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Gujarat Titans

Venue: HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala

Date: 26th May, 2026

Time: 7:30 PM

Head-to-head:

Matches played: 8

RCB: 4

GT: 4

Squads:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru:

Rajat Patidar (C), Virat Kohli, Tim David, Jacob Bethell, Romario Shepherd, Josh Hazlewood, Richard Gleeson, Devdutt Padikkal, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Rasikh Dar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jordan Cox, Suyash Sharma, Venkatesh Iyer, Swapnil Singh, Jacob Duffy, Kanishk Chouhan, Abhinandan Singh, Mangesh Yadav, Phil Salt, Satvik Deswal, Vicky Ostwal, Vihaan Malhotra

Gujarat Titans:

Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (WK), Anuj Rawat (WK), Kumar Kushagra (WK), Glenn Phillips, Rashid Khan, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan, Nishant Sindhu, Arshad Khan, Jason Holder, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Gurnoor Brar, Manav Suthar, Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Luke Wood, Ashok Sharma