Gujarat Titans Pilih Memukul Bola Kedua Lawan RCB di Kualifikasi IPL

Kapten Gujarat Titans Shubman Gill memenangkan lempar koin dan memilih untuk menjaga lapangan terlebih dahulu dalam pertandingan Kualifikasi 1 IPL 2026 melawan Royal Challengers Bengaluru di Stadion Asosiasi Kriket Himachal Pradesh, Dharamsala, pada Selasa.

Pemenang dari pertandingan sengit ini akan langsung mengamankan tempat di babak final IPL 2026, sementara tim yang kalah bakal mendapatkan peluang kedua pada laga Kualifikasi 2 untuk menghadapi pemenang dari babak Eliminator.

Perubahan susunan pemain dilakukan oleh Gujarat Titans dengan memasukkan Kulwant Khejroliya untuk menggantikan Arshad Khan, sedangkan sang juara bertahan Royal Challengers Bengaluru menyertakan Jacob Duffy sebagai bagian dari strategi mereka menghadapi laga gugur ini.

"We're gonna bowl first. It looks like a good wicket, you know, but we have seen and in this ground particularly, there is a bit of dew in the second inning, so it's always good to have a total on the board and a big win and then try to chase it down. I think, this match is all about taking the equation out of the game. We have been playing some really good cricket and hopefully we'll continue to do so," kata Shubman Gill, Kapten Gujarat Titans.

Keputusan tersebut diambil oleh Gill dengan mempertimbangkan kondisi lapangan di Dharamsala yang sudah sangat dikenalnya sejak masa muda.

"I've played a lot here in the under 14, under 16 days. I've spent quite a bit of time here, so yeah, hopefully it's gonna be a good use of us. And yes, it is one of the prettiest grounds, in the world. We have one change. Kulwant comes in in place of Arshad Khan," ujar Shubman Gill, Kapten Gujarat Titans.

Di sisi lain, kapten kubu lawan menilai kondisi permukaan lapangan cukup keras dan akan menguntungkan bagi tim yang memukul bola terlebih dahulu untuk mengumpulkan poin maksimal demi menekan lawan.

"I think, to be honest, the wicket looks pretty good. It's pretty hard. It will come nicely on the bat, so I think it will not change in 40 overs. So we'll try to put a good total on the board and keep them under pressure. I think the first qualifier game is, I think it's a nice game to go straight in the final after winning this game, but we are just taking this one game at a time. We'll give our best in this game," kata Rajat Patidar, Kapten Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Patidar menegaskan bahwa fokus utama timnya musim ini adalah memaksimalkan kekuatan internal mereka sendiri ketimbang terlalu memikirkan strategi tim lawan.

"I think we've played good cricket and we are just focusing more on our strength, rather than focusing more on the opposition. So yeah, focusing more on the strength is our motto this year. I think the surface looks pretty good. It's pretty hard. There's no grass cover on it, I think so. It will be nice to bat on," ujar Rajat Patidar, Kapten Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Gujarat Titans menurunkan susunan pemain utama yang terdiri dari Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Jos Buttler, Washington Sundar, Nishant Sindhu, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Kulwant Khejroliya, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, dan Prasidh Krishna.

Sementara itu, Royal Challengers Bengaluru tampil dengan komposisi Venkatesh Iyer, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Jitesh Sharma, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Josh Hazlewood, serta Rasikh Salam Dar.