Gujarat Titans director of cricket Vikram Solanki admitted that finishing as runners-up in the IPL 2026 final was a tough pill to swallow, but he was not interested in dwelling on \u201cwhat ifs\u201d from their title run. Instead, he chose to focus on recognising Royal Challengers Bengaluru\u2019s achievements, praising a side that had topped the league standings and then delivered the knock-out wins needed to lift the trophy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll begin by congratulating RCB. They\u2019ve had an outstanding campaign,\u201d Solanki said. \u201cThey finished at the top of the table in the league stage and then went on to beat us twice, so we have to acknowledge that. When it comes to our journey, we\u2019re genuinely proud of what we\u2019ve managed as a group. Of course, we would have loved to go one step further, but there are plenty of teams that would gladly have swapped places with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Solanki pointed out that GT\u2019s path to the final was made more difficult by the earlier setback against RCB in Qualifier 1 at Dharamsala. That result meant the Titans had to keep the momentum moving through a packed schedule\u2014if they reached the summit clash, they would need to travel and play three matches in five days. They ultimately landed in Ahmedabad late on Saturday night, with less than twenty hours before they had to step out for the final.<\/p>\n
Even with that compressed turnaround, Solanki insisted the defeat should not be explained away by fatigue. \u201cThe number of games in a short period of time is challenging,\u201d he said. \u201cYes, it\u2019s at the end of a campaign, but I\u2019m not going to lean on that. The simple truth is that RCB beat us today, and we have to be strong enough to hold our heads high and take pride in the campaign we put together. At the same time, we must stay gracious and congratulate RCB.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also pushed back on the idea that weather or scheduling variables should become the headline narrative. \u201cI don\u2019t want to take away from what RCB have done by saying, \u2018Well, we played too many games and we were tired\u2019. That\u2019s not really what we\u2019re about,\u201d Solanki added. \u201cUnfortunately, I can\u2019t control the weather. If the weather forces late arrivals, then there\u2019s nothing we can do. We had an opportunity to challenge them. In parts, we did, but RCB were the better side today\u2014and I think it\u2019s as straightforward as that.\u201d<\/p>\n
While questions about conditions clearly bothered him, Solanki\u2019s answers turned quickly to the broader theme of GT\u2019s tournament structure and how much weight was carried by their top order. The Titans were frequently discussed as a team that leaned heavily on Shubman Gill, B Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler, especially after Gill and Sai Sudharsan surpassed 700 runs each. The pair also produced three century partnerships, helping GT reach a combined figure of 11\u2014described as the highest for a duo in T20s\u2014before the final.<\/p>\n
Solanki dismissed the repetitive line of questioning about reliance on the top three after the match. \u201cThe number of times I\u2019ve had to answer that question\u2026 quite honestly, we just played a final,\u201d he said. \u201cThis idea of over-reliance on the top two or top three\u2014listen, we\u2019ve played a final. You should accept that we\u2019ve had a reasonable campaign, and the details are there for everyone to see: the runs scored and the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n
One factor Solanki acknowledged was that GT\u2019s middle-order had to shoulder a lot of pressure, which in turn led to frequent adjustments around a core of Indian batters. Among the changes in the final was the promotion of young Nishant Sindhu. He was sent in ahead of Buttler after GT lost both openers within four overs, though Solanki stressed that this was not a pre-planned move. \u201cThat was a judgment call,\u201d he said. \u201cAshish [Nehra, the head coach] made that call to send him in at No. 3 at that moment. We didn\u2019t really discuss it in advance, but Ashish makes those calls now and again, and if the captain is around, it\u2019s in conjunction with the captain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Solanki also felt the final never truly played out like a home game for GT, with RCB making the pitch and conditions work in their favour. Buttler\u2019s remark on television\u2014\u201cThis is our home ground but definitely not the home crowd\u201d\u2014captured the atmosphere, and Solanki admitted GT may have needed a small recalibration in how they approached the scoring phase. \u201cWe probably just made a slight miscalculation about what score was appropriate on that pitch,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think it was a 200-plus pitch of any sort. If we had got somewhere around the 180-mark, I think that would have been a challenging total for them to chase.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the conversation moved to the crowd\u2019s reaction to Virat Kohli during the chase, Solanki offered a brief, wry smile at the question\u2014he was clearly not in the mood to soften the moment for anyone else. \u201cWe\u2019re all privileged to see good players play, and Virat is an exceptional player,\u201d he said. \u201cHe played a great knock for his team. I\u2019m probably not celebrating that knock right now. Virat played very well to almost anchor that chase and guide it the way he did.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gujarat Titans director of cricket Vikram Solanki admitted that finishing as runners-up in the IPL 2026 final was a tough pill to swallow, but he…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":13676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Vikram Solanki on GT IPL 2026 Final Loss, RCB Credit","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Vikram Solanki reacts to GT\u2019s IPL 2026 final defeat, praising RCB\u2019s league dominance and knockout surge\u2014while refusing to dwell on missed chances.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n