Shubman Gill’s Gujarat Titans won the toss and chose to field first against Rishabh Pant’s Lucknow Super Giants in the 19th match of IPL 2026 at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. Both franchises named unchanged playing XIs for the contest.
Gill and Pant: same XI, matching mindsets
Gill, speaking after the toss, said his side’s decision was driven by the momentum they picked up in their previous outing and the need to remain steady throughout a long campaign.
“We’ll field first. Two points in the last match give us plenty of confidence. Looking to play better cricket and ensure the match doesn’t go to the last over. We have had a tremendous time, consistency is important in a long tournament such as the IPL. After 14 matches, the most consistent team will win the tournament. Same team for us today,” Gill said.
Pant, for Lucknow, also underlined adaptability—adding that when pitches behave the way they do in IPL cricket, the choice to bat or bowl first often matters less than how teams execute their plans. He further stressed that every win contributes, but the focus must stay on the next game.
“I think the way wickets are, batting or bowling first doesn’t matter a lot. For us it’s amazing. Every win is important, but to win like that shows character. We want to take it one game at a time. It’s a great boost to win a match and come to the next one, but conditions are different, wickets are difficult. We spoke about intent and it was good to see. Same team for us,” Pant said.
Playing XIs for Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans
With both captains confirming an unchanged XI, the line-ups were as follows:
- Lucknow Super Giants: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Ayush Badoni, Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Mohammed Shami, Avesh Khan, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Prince Yadav
- Gujarat Titans: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Ashok Sharma, Prasidh Krishna
Impact player benches
Both sides also listed their Impact Sub options ahead of the match.
- Gujarat Titans (Impact Subs): Shahrukh Khan, Manav Suthar, Jason Holder, Kulwant Khejroliya, Anuj Rawat
- Lucknow Super Giants (Impact Subs): Manimaran Siddharth, George Linde, Matthew Breetzke, Shahbaz Ahmad, Mayank Yadav
