{"id":13451,"date":"2026-05-31T15:13:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T15:13:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/rcb-opt-to-bowl-first-in-ipl-2026-final-vs-gt-at-narendra-modi-stadium"},"modified":"2026-05-31T15:13:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T15:13:23","slug":"rcb-opt-to-bowl-first-in-ipl-2026-final-vs-gt-at-narendra-modi-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1win.za.com\/ipl\/rcb-opt-to-bowl-first-in-ipl-2026-final-vs-gt-at-narendra-modi-stadium","title":{"rendered":"RCB Opt to Bowl First in IPL 2026 Final vs GT at Narendra Modi Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won the toss and opted to field in the IPL 2026 final against Gujarat Titans (GT) on Sunday. The title decider is set to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, with both franchises chasing a second IPL crown. RCB captain Rajat Patidar said the side is fully focused on delivering their best performance on the big day.<\/p>\n<h2>Key takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>RCB, the reigning champions, chose to bowl first after winning the toss in the IPL 2026 final.<\/li>\n<li>The match takes place at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.<\/li>\n<li>Rajat Patidar backed RCB\u2019s approach, insisting the team will be ready to execute on the day.<\/li>\n<li>Shubman Gill preferred batting first and pointed to early movement that could affect fast bowlers.<\/li>\n<li>GT made a late-looking squad change: Arshad Khan is included in place of Sai Kishore.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Toss: RCB opt to bowl, Patidar sets the mindset<\/h2>\n<p>Speaking at the toss, Patidar outlined RCB\u2019s plan to start with the ball. He suggested the surface should remain fairly consistent and referenced the memories of last year, while stressing that the team\u2019s focus must stay on the present moment.<\/p>\n<p>Patidar also said RCB are aiming to \u201ccontrol the controllables\u201d as they look to secure victory, adding that the side always enjoys playing at the Narendra Modi Stadium. He confirmed that the playing combination remains the same for Bengaluru.<\/p>\n<h2>Gill\u2019s call and GT\u2019s batting-first preference<\/h2>\n<p>For Gujarat, captain Shubman Gill said he would have preferred to bat first. He described the wicket as typical for the venue and noted that in the opening phase\u2014specifically the first three overs\u2014there may be some movement for the fast bowlers.<\/p>\n<p>Gill highlighted the scale of the ground and framed the contest as one opportunity to make an impact in the final. He then confirmed a bowling-squad adjustment, with Arshad Khan coming into the XI for Sai Kishore.<\/p>\n<h2>Playing XIs and impact players<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Gujarat Titans (Playing XI):<\/strong> Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler (w), Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, Nishant Sindhu, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Arshad Khan, Mohammed Siraj.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gujarat Titans (Impact subs):<\/strong> Prasidh Krishna, Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Kumar Kushagra, Sai Kishore.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI):<\/strong> Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (w), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Salam Dar.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Impact subs):<\/strong> Venkatesh Iyer, Kanishk Chohan, Swapnil Singh, Abhinandan Singh, Jordan Cox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won the toss and opted to field in the IPL 2026 final against Gujarat Titans (GT) on Sunday. The&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":13446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"IPL 2026 Final: RCB Bowl First vs GT at Ahmedabad","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"RCB elect to bowl first in the IPL 2026 final vs GT at Narendra Modi Stadium\u2014can they defend the title in Ahmedabad?","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>IPL 2026 Final: RCB Bowl First vs GT at Ahmedabad<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"RCB elect to bowl first in the IPL 2026 final vs GT at Narendra Modi Stadium\u2014can they defend the title in Ahmedabad?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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