Former Indian opening batsman Virender Sehwag He believes that Gujarat Titans have a clear lead over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the bowling department ahead of the much-awaited Qualifier 1 clash in IPL 2026.
Sehwag pointed out that Gujarat's pace attack has been much more disciplined and effective in pressure situations this season, while RCB's bowling unit has struggled to maintain consistency despite finishing in the top two in the league stage.
RCB reached the playoffs after suffering a heavy 55-run defeat against SRH in their final league-stage match, where Hyderabad posted a mammoth total of 255 runs. This performance once again highlighted Bengaluru's bowling concerns at a crucial stage of the tournament.
While RCB has experienced names like Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sehwag feels that the bowling attack has lacked consistency throughout the season. Against SRH, both Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar suffered forgettable outings, conceding 106 runs without taking any wickets in eight overs.
Sehwag said that RCB would hope that such a performance does not happen again in the playoffs.
“He may have had a rare off-day, so he has to accept that he had a bad day where both Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood didn't take any wickets, nobody bowled well that day,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
Former opening batsman also gave special praise Gujarat Titans'The pace duo of Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj, both have played a big role in the team's successful IPL 2026 campaign.
Rabada has been in sensational form this season, taking 24 wickets in 14 matches while being consistent with the new ball. The South African fast bowler also equaled the IPL record for most wickets in the powerplay in a season after taking 17 wickets inside the first six overs.
According to Sehwag, GT's ability to attack and stop runs makes them a far more balanced bowling side than RCB.
“So, they should forget it and move on. But if it happens again in the playoffs, they can give away more than 255 runs there because the boundaries are quite short. So, it is important for RCB that their bowling works, because GT's bowling is quite good. RCB has to be careful,” Sehwag said.
Both the teams will face each other in Qualifier 1 in Dharamshala on May 26 to seal a place in the IPL 2026 final, while the losing team will face the winner of the eliminator between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2.
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