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Big picture – 4 vs 5 with a chance to go higher
At the heart of GT’s growth and RR’s patchy form has been their respective bowling. The GT quicks, Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj are breathing fire. The two have bowled unchanged through the powerplay in the last few games and that’s provided the cushion for Rashid Khan to do his thing in the middle-overs. Jason Holder’s addition, too, has worked wonders for GT. If Rabada and Siraj can break the Jai-Soorya partnership early and get into the wobbly middle-order, things could unravel for RR quickly.
On the other hand, RR have been overly reliant on Jofra Archer. While he’s been consistent in the powerplay – he’s the joint second-highest wicket-taker in this phase – he’s lacked support from the rest. Nandre Burger has blown hot and cold, so have Brijesh Sharma and Tushar Deshpande. While Ravindra Jadeja has kept the runs in check, he only has seven wickets in ten games. RR have conceded 220-plus runs in three consecutive innings now and worryingly, two of those have come in Jaipur.
A win for GT will catapult them from five to two on the points table; a win for RR will take them to two and a big win can also give them top spot.
Form guide
Rajasthan Royals LWLWLL (last five matches, most recent first)
Gujarat Titans WWWLL
Key question
Team news – GT unlikely to change
RR have a Burger problem and they could make a change on that front, bringing in one of Kwena Maphaka or Adam Milne. They could also replace him with Dasun Shanaka, who provides both batting and bowling options. There is also a chance that RR could bring back Shimron Hetmyer to bolster the batting depth.
Rajasthan Royals (probable XI): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 3 Dhruv Jurel (wk), 4 Riyan Parag (capt), 5 Donovan Ferreira, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Shubham Dubey, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Nandre Burger/Dasun Shanaka, 11 Brijesh Sharma, 12 Tushar Deshpande
GT handed Nishant Sindhu a debut in the last game and are unlikely to tinker with a winning combination. Manav Suthar did go for 27 in the only over he bowled against PBKS, but was effective in the earlier games. He also adds batting depth, which means R Sai Kishore might have to wait his turn.
Gujarat Titans (probable XI): 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 Sai Sudharsan, 3 Jos Buttler (wk), 4 Nishant Sindhu, 5 Washington Sundar, 6 Jason Holder, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Manav Suthar, 10 Arshad Khan, 11 Kagiso Rabada, 12 Mohammed Siraj
In the spotlight: Dhruv Jurel and Kagiso Rabada
Stats and trivia
- Donovan Ferreira’s strike-rate of 264.86 is the third-highest for any batter who has faced more than 30 balls in the death overs in IPL 2026. He has also struck 11 sixes during this phase, the second-highest after Tim David’s 12
- Mohammed Siraj’s powerplay economy rate of 6.92 is the second-best in the season after Akeal Hosein’s 6.44 (minimum 30 balls bowled)
- Shubman Gill will have to be careful against Jofra Archer, who has been on song in the powerplay. Archer has dismissed Gill three times in six innings in the IPL
- Riyan Parag has fallen to Holder twice in two innings in the IPL and twice in six innings against Rashid Khan. His strike rate against Rashid is only 90
- Vaibhav Sooryavanshi struck his maiden IPL century one year back against GT. He has since added another ton to his name this season
- GT have won six out of nine games against RR in the IPL
Pitch and conditions
Pitch No. 6 will be used for the RR-GT clash, the first time this surface will come into play this season. Jaipur has been a high-scoring venue this year. RR scored 228 against Sunrisers Hyderabad and 225 against DC and failed to defend the target both times. Another high-scoring game is expected in Jaipur. Dew should also come into play, and the teams winning the toss will likely bowl first. There is an excessive heat warning in place in Jaipur with temperatures touching close to 40 degrees during the day. While the temperatures will go down during the evening, heat will remain a factor.
Ashish Pant is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo
