🏏IPL Match 9th GT vs RR at Ahmedabad 🏏

Rajasthan Royals have entered a new era - new ownership, new coach, new captain - and amid all the novelty, they want to adopt a new style of play. Smart cricket is what Riyan Parag terms it to the world, one that relies on assessing conditions well and adapting to them.

Parag is in his seventh season with the franchise now, and has worked for a long time with Kumar Sangakkara within the setup to understand what hasn't worked for the team over the years. Their fresh approach was on display in the most glorious fashion in their tournament opener in Guwahati, a venue where they will play three of their marquee league matches. They outbowled and outbatted Chennai Super Kings, keeping a 47-ball separation between the two.

Unlike Guwahati - which serves as their second home ground - they will be visiting Ahmedabad only once this season. It's a city where Gujarat Titans' top-order have marked their authority, and asserted their dominance. Not only do they all average above 50 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, but also strike at over 155.

And when their batting didn't quite click against Punjab Kings in their opening game, their bowling attack announced that they were ready for the season, and willing to take on the extra load to make the competition stiff for the opposition.

In their own den, Titans know the perfect blueprint; Royals would be seeking that. By the time they take the field on Saturday evening, they would hope to have assessed the conditions, and be ready to adapt to the smartest brand of their cricket

When: Saturday, April 4 at 7:30 PM IST

Where: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

What to expect: The average first innings score in Ahmedabad was 215 in last season's IPL, and Saturday's contest is expected to be yet another run-fest. However, unlike most other venues, there was an advantage for teams batting first. Teams that opted to bat, won seven out of nine games at the venue last season.

Head to Head: Gujarat Titans have a 6-2 lead over Rajasthan Royals, and have dominated them even at the Narendra Modi Stadium, holding a 2-1 advantage.

Gujarat Titans

Injuries/Unavailability: No injuries have been reported.

Tactics & Match-ups: 52 per cent of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's runs in IPL have come in the mid-wicket and mid-on region, and 20 of his 29 sixes have been hit in these two zones. Expect the GT pacers to test the hard-hitting southpaw outside the off stump.

Probable XII: Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada/Jason Holder, Ashok Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

Rajasthan Royals

Injuries/Unavailability: All players are fit and available for selection

Tactics & Matchups: Jofra Archer has enjoyed an upper-hand in contests against Shubman Gill, dismissing the Titans skipper thrice in a face-off of 19 balls, conceding only 16 runs in return. He might be the key in the Powerplay again.

Probable XII: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Ravi Bishnoi, Sandeep Sharma, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma

Did you know?

In the seven games of the recently-concluded 2026 T20 World Cup played in Ahmedabad, the average first innings total was 198 - the highest among all the eight venues of the competition

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has hit 29 sixes in just eight IPL innings, which is one six every 4.8 balls

Each of Titans' top three average 50+ and strike at 150+ in T20s in Ahmedabad

Big Picture - An opening bat-off

The last time Gujarat Titans (GT) and Rajasthan Royals met, a star was born. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, all of 14 years old, made a 35-ball hundred, and things have only gone upwards for him since. He has made Yashasvi Jaiswal, who struck at 159.71 in IPL 2025, play second fiddle.

At the other end in Saturday's IPL 2026 clash in Ahmedabad will be Shubman Gill and B Sai Sudharsan, whose template involves risk-free runs and orthodox strokeplay. That doesn't mean they score slowly; they put on 912 runs at a partnership strike rate of 159.33 last year. They have volume, speed and quality. It's just that Sooryavanshi is playing a completely different game, revolutionising the construction of a T20 innings.

Sooryavanshi can win games for RR in the powerplay, but he can't do it every time. Gill and Sudharsan are as close as you'd get to the batting equivalents of an insurance policy. They put on seven fifty-plus stands last year; if they do it again, it'd be no surprise.

For argument's sake, let's say the openers cancel each other out. Even then, there's a difference in approach between the two batting line-ups that could define the game: GT hit 63.92% of their runs in boundaries last year, the second-lowest among all teams. RR had a boundary percentage of 68.59%, which was the fourth-highest.

As in GT's first game of this season, a defeat to Punjab Kings (PBKS) in New Chandigarh, six-hitting could make a difference again. GT hit three in that game while Punjab Kings hit 14. Last year too, GT's percentage of runs in sixes was the second-lowest of all teams, at 26.90. RR's was joint highest at 35.10.

At a time when T20 is moving in an increasingly boundary-oriented direction, GT play a slightly old-school version of the game. Against an RR side powered by a player from the future, they might need to lean on their bowling and play disruptor, or find a way to dictate the pace themselves.

Team News and Likely XII

GT weren't able to finish their innings on a high against PBKS, and Kagiso Rabada didn't look particularly threatening with the ball. They could either show faith in Rabada or address both problems by replacing Rabada with Jason Holder, whose presence will lend extra batting depth.

Gujarat Titans (probable): 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 B Sai Sudharsan, 3 Jos Buttler (wk), 4 Washington Sundar, 5 Glenn Phillips, 6 M Shahrukh Khan, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Kagiso Rabada/Jason Holder, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Mohammed Siraj, 12 Ashok Sharma.

RR picked just three overseas players in their starting XI against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), and did not have to use their Impact Player en route to a comfortable win. Donovan Ferreira is a likely option to play that role in a bat-second scenario. Major changes, otherwise, are unlikely.

Rajasthan Royals (probable): 1 Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Dhruv Jurel (wk), 4 Riyan Parag (capt), 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Donovan Ferreira, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Nandre Burger, 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11 Ravi Bishnoi, 12 Brijesh Sharma.

In the spotlight: Jos Buttler and Nandre Burger

Jos Buttler looked out of sorts during the T20 World Cup last month, and didn't start IPL 2026 particularly well either. His 33-ball 38 against PBKS included 14 dots. With GT being top-heavy and with their batting mantra being at least one of the top three carrying on until around the 15th over, Buttler will hope to hit his straps soon.

Nandre Burger took two of Chennai Super Kings' top three - Sanju Samson and Ayush Mhatre - in his first two overs. He can hit 140kph and generate good bounce with his height. He has two right-handers in Gill and Buttler to target in GT's top three, at a ground where the run rate in the powerplay (8.54) is lower than it is in the middle overs (9.87) and death (10.12).

Stats and Trivia

• Ahmedabad was the highest-scoring venue in the IPL last season, featuring 11 totals of over 200.
• Jofra Archer has dismissed Shubman Gill three times in 19 balls while conceding just 16 runs.
• Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi are on their way to becoming the fastest Indian pair to 500 partnership runs (by balls) in the IPL. They currently have 497 runs in 246 balls. The record is currently held by Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, who got to 500 in 309 balls.

Pitch and Conditions - High-scoring with a bat-first advantage

Six T20 games have been played on pitch No. 7 in Ahmedabad since the start of 2024, four of which have been won by the team batting first. The average first-innings scores in these matches is 207. The run rate in the middle overs is 9.87, showing little deceleration after the powerplay. The weather is expected to be clear for the evening, with the temperatures hovering around 27 degrees Celsius.

Thanks for the tag Parm.

May the best team win.

Cheers..