NEW DELHI: Shubman Gill was visibly frustrated after Rajat Patidar received two key reprieves in the IPL 2026 Qualifier 1 at Dharamsala, where Gujarat Titans faced Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Tuesday. The swing came during the 13th over delivered by Prasidh Krishna, with Patidar at 20, and those missed chances ultimately proved expensive for GT in a high-stakes knockout setting.
Early in the over, Patidar came within a whisker of costing GT a breakthrough. On the first delivery, Prasidh landed a hard-length ball on the middle stump line. The RCB captain tried to clear the leg side by whipping the ball, but he closed the bat too soon, producing a huge leading edge. The ball rose steeply above the wicketkeeper’s area as Jos Buttler moved backward and Jason Holder sprinted over from third man. Still, neither of them tracked it cleanly, and the catch went down safely between them—letting Patidar survive and take two runs.
Just two balls later, Patidar was handed another escape. Prasidh again sent the ball in short on a hard length and Patidar went for an aggressive pull. This time, he didn’t connect properly, managing only a top edge that sent the ball toward the deep. Kagiso Rabada came charging in from the boundary, got both hands to the ball while sliding forward, but the effort ended in failure as he couldn’t secure the catch.
Gill’s reaction said it all after the second missed opportunity: GT’s careless fielding turned two chances into two lifelines, allowing Patidar to stay in the contest and build momentum under pressure.
Patidar capitalised further, accelerating to a half-century off just 21 deliveries—one of the fastest fifties in IPL knockout and playoff history (measured by balls): 16 Suresh Raina vs PBKS at Wankhede 2014, 17 Aadam Gilchrist vs DC at Centurion 2009, 20 MS Dhoni vs MI at Bengaluru 2012, 21 Dwayne Smith vs CSK at Delhi 2013, 21 Virender Sehwag vs CSK at Wankhede 2014, and 21 Rajat Patidar vs PBKS at Dharamsala 2026.
