Rajasthan Royals posted 210 at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday. In Ahmedabad, that is not a match-winning total. It is just par. So when Gujarat Titans reached the 12th over needing 84 off 48 with eight wickets in hand, the game looked theirs to lose.
They lost it.
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Five wickets fell in three overs. The lower middle order had no answer. Ravi Bishnoi triggered the collapse with a googly that removed Sai Sudharsan in the 11th over, then came back to dismiss Glenn Phillips and Washington Sundar in his next. Four wickets in total for Bishnoi, his first four-for in the IPL. From 103 for 1, Titans slipped to 133 for 5 and never recovered. Tushar Deshpande held his nerve in the final over to defend 11 and seal a six-run win for Royals.
The worrying part is that this is not an isolated incident. Against Punjab Kings in their opening game, Titans were cruising at 119 for 2 in the 14th over and managed just 34 runs in the last five overs without a single six.
Titans’ model in IPL 2025 was built on the strength of their top three. Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler each cleared 500 runs at strike rates above 150, and at least one of them batted deep in the death overs in 12 of 15 matches. The middle order could afford to be explosive and reckless because the top held firm.
That cushion is gone. All three came into IPL 2026 short of T20 form. Gill missed this match entirely with a muscle spasm. Without that stability up top, the same middle order that looked fearless last season is now exposed and fragile.
Sherfane Rutherford, one of the more reliable death-over hitters since the SA20, is no longer in the squad either. Neither Glenn Phillips nor the bench options offer a ready replacement. Ahmedabad may be a high-scoring ground, but no total is safe if your batting keeps folding at the worst possible moment.
