Gujarat Titans (GT) showed a familiar faith in their bowlers, whether the attack started the innings or finished it — but on Saturday night, the side’s two biggest wicket-takers delivered in tandem. Kagiso Rabada struck early with figures of 2 for 33 in three overs, while Rashid Khan produced a match-winning spell of 4 for 33 from four. Together they combined for 6 wickets in seven overs, restricting Rajasthan Royals (RR) and turning the contest firmly in GT’s favour.
Rashid Khan’s Purple Cap surge and vintage control
Rashid Khan has been a standout performer across IPL history and currently sits one place above Lasith Malinga at No. 10 on the tournament’s all-time wicket list. However, his run of form in IPL 2026 has looked far more ruthless after two less-flattering seasons. In 2024, he managed 10 wickets at an economy rate of 8.40, and in 2025 he took nine wickets while conceding at 9.35. He attributed the 2025 dip to rushing back following back surgery.
This season, though, Rashid has quickly returned to being a genuine threat. He has taken 15 wickets in 11 bowling innings, and his economy rate of 8.26 underlines how he has tightened his grip on matches.
Deep Dasgupta on what made Rashid ‘hit stumps’ again
Deep Dasgupta highlighted the specific tactical details behind Rashid’s effectiveness, especially against left-hand batters. He pointed to a wicket described as being delivered from over the wicket, with the ball turning from outside off stump or off stump to hit the stumps.
Dasgupta’s view was that the spell reflected Rashid’s “old, vintage” best. He noted that during this phase Rashid’s deliveries were consistently finding the stumps, and he linked that pattern directly to the outcomes: of Rashid’s four wickets, three were bowled and one resulted in leg before wicket. He also referenced Rashid’s beehive—suggesting the unusual, high percentage of stump-hitting balls had been a defining feature of the spell.
According to Dasgupta’s breakdown, once Rashid begins bowling over the wicket to a left-hander and the legspin is landing on target, he becomes particularly dangerous — a theme that proved decisive in this match.
Rabada rises to the top wicket-tally with two powerplay breakthroughs
While Rashid took the match honours, Rabada climbed to the head of the Purple Cap conversation. He has now collected 14 wickets in his most recent seven games, taking his season tally to 18.
Two key scalps: Jaiswal and Hetmyer
Rabada’s impact came with two major wickets, both arriving during the powerplay. In the fourth over, he dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal with a climbing, hard-length delivery just outside off at 152.1 kph. Soon after, Shimron Hetmyer fell to a similarly shaped ball in the early phase as well. In both cases, the batters were rushed into their shot-making — a pattern that matched GT’s aggressive early bowling plan.
Mitchell McClenaghan explains Rabada’s preparation and pace
Mitchell McClenaghan, who had worked with Rabada prior to the tournament, linked the improvement to Rabada’s preparation for the season. He pointed out that after three “average” IPL campaigns, Rabada’s numbers had shown the change taking shape: 20 wickets in 21 matches, with economy rates of 10.09 and 11.57 across two of those three years.
Conditioning, a sprint coach, and a sharper T20 mindset
McClenaghan suggested Rabada recognised his T20 — particularly IPL — performances had not been where he wanted them. He described Rabada treating the tournament as a privilege and putting in extra preparation so he would arrive as ready as possible.
- Rabada added structured conditioning by bringing in a sprint coach from South Africa, training alongside one of the region’s best sprinters.
- McClenaghan said the result was the best physical condition he had seen Rabada in.
- He noted Rabada was bowling at a faster clip and delivering exceptionally well, pushing past the early-season talk of who was the quickest — including Jofra Archer.
- McClenaghan framed the Purple Cap as a “cherry on top,” but stressed the main story was the work Rabada had done and how successful it has been so far.
McClenaghan also connected the motivation to Rabada’s broader cricket identity — namely, how he is often viewed as a Test and ODI bowler rather than a T20 specialist. He argued that Rabada knows he is among the best in Test cricket, and that for one-day cricket he is exceptional too, but he does not like being left out of the top tier in T20.
The former coach added that Rabada’s pride shows when he switches his focus to a challenge: he has been unhappy with sitting on the bench in IPL cricket in the last three seasons and with not performing as well as he would have liked for South Africa in World Cups. In McClenaghan’s assessment, once Rabada decides he wants to compete, “you can’t stop this guy.”
