The Gujarat Titans would be locking horns with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Match 42 of IPL at Narendra Modi Stadium on 30th April 2026. RCB had a thrashing win against DC in their last game at Arun Jaitley stadium. It all started with Bhuvaneswar Kumar’s yorker in first over that took out Sahil Parakh and then Hazlewood bamboozled KL Rahul in the second over with a perfect line and length unplayable delivery hurled at 141.1 kmph. Rizvi then threw his wicket to Hazlewood for a golden duck leaving Delhi at 2-3. Not long after that, Stubbs too walked back to the dugout. Bhuvneshwar again chipped Axar with a late movement resulting in 5 wickets in just 2.4 overs. Soon after, Rana gave a catch to Devdutt Padikkal at wide slip and by end of powerplay they were just 13/6. Only Abhishek Porel’s 30 runs saved them from embarrassment but RCB ultimately got them out for 75 and easily chasing that down with 9 wickets in hand.
RCB and GT had actually met a week before on April 24. GT put up 205/3 on the boards for RCB to chase with Sai Sudarshan scoring a blistering century. Although RCB had a mini collapse at the end but chase master Virat Kohli’s 81 off 44 ball and Devdutt Padikkal’s 55 off 27 balls and a little cameo by Krunal Pandya at the end made them victorious at Chinnaswamy against GT.
RCB’s strongest playing XI vs GT:
Top Order : Jacob Bethel, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal
RCB’s batting has been quite balanced this season with the top order contributing to the wins. Virat Kohli having another amazing season with RCB scoring 351 runs at 162.50 . He has also become the first player in history of IPL to reach to 9000 runs milestone. Althoug RCB recently is missing the likes of another opener Phil Salt who has been missing last few games due to injury and management doesn’t want to push him. Jacob Bethel has replaced him in last two games who still has to play an impact innings to prove his mettle in IPL 2026. Devdutt Padikkal has become more aggressive in his batting approach and attacks powerplay with 242 runs at a strike rate of 192.
Middle Order : Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(wk), Tim David, romario Shepherd
The highlight of RCB’s middle over has been captain Rajat Patidar. He has the best consistent season with back to back 50+ scores and amassed 238 runs at a strike rate of 210. His pace playing skills has improved a lot over the time. Although as fine a wicket keeper Jitesh Sharma too has emerged RCB would be hoping he does that with his willow too, his highest score in last 6 innings has been only 23, which is concerning. Tim David had his fair share of limelight playing quick-fire cameos, including the 25-ball 70 against CSK.
Bowlers: Bhuvnwshwar Kumar, Krunal Pandya, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Rasik Dhar
No introduction to RCB’s pace attack as Bhuvneshwar Kumara and Josh Hazlewood have been simply among the top tier this season. Bhuvneshwar leads the purple cap board with 14 wickets this season, and Josh Hazlewood has 8 wickets, with his best 4-wicket haul coming this season against DC. Both of them have bowled fiery spells that have been so crucial for RCB’s winning matches. Even the third pacer option, Rasik Dhar, has been impactful, scalping 6 wickets in 5 matches. Their spin attack is led well by Krunal Pandya with 9 wickets and Suyash Sharma with 6 wickets.
RCB probable XI: Virat Kohli, Jacob Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (capt), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Rasikh Dar
