IPL 2026: GT skipper Shubman Gill blames team's fielding after loss to RCB in Qualifier 1: ‘Not up to the mark’

Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper Shubman Gill lamented his team's below-par fielding following their 92-run loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2026 in Dharamsala on Tuesday.

Gujarat Titans, who opted to field, ended up making costly errors that led to Royal Challengers Bengaluru posting 254/5 on the board. RCB skipper Rajat Patidar, who scored an unbeaten 93 from 33 balls, was dropped on 14 and 20 in Prasidh Krishna's over.

He was dropped by Kulwant Khejroliya in the first ball of the 14th over, and a couple of deliveries later, Kagiso Rabada dropped him as well.

"No, it's (fielding errors) definitely something that we do address in the team meetings and also in the practice sessions. But like I said, I don't think it was our day, the intensity was right there, but under pressure situations, we were not up to the mark," he added.

When asked if he was confident of chasing a huge total like 255, Shubman Gill stressed that it was all about getting a good start. "I mean, it's all about getting a good start, you know.

"If you get a good powerplay, and on a ground like this we know the ball travels and the outfield is also very quick. So if you had gotten off to a good start in the powerplay, any target, with the way the wicket was playing and the kind of ground that we were playing at, it could have been chaseable," he added.

Replying to RCB's mammoth total, Gujarat Titans were restricted to 51/5 in the powerplay before being bowled out for 162 in 19.3 overs. Rahul Tewatia, who scored a 43-ball 68, was the lone fighter for Gujarat Titans as a majority of the others failed to convert starts.

GT were even 88/8 at one stage, but Tewatia and Mohammed Siraj forged 68 runs off 41 balls for the ninth wicket.

Openers Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill have often been an unstoppable force for Gujarat Titans in the IPL recently, but on Tuesday, it was a different story. Both the openers were dismissed early in the powerplay. While Sai Sudharsan fell to an unlucky hit-wicket off Jacob Duffy’s ball, Bhuvneshwar Kumar cleaned up Shubman Gill.

While RCB qualified for the final for a second successive season, Gujarat Titans will have another shot at making the summit clash.

The Shubman Gill-led side will take on either Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) or Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Friday’s Qualifier 2 in Mullanpur. SRH and RR will lock horns in the Eliminator in Mullanpur on Wednesday.