By Admin 
Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Rajat Patidar praised his team after their huge 92-run win over Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League 2026. He said that the team played fearless and aggressive cricket in the entire match, due to which RCB was successful in reaching the IPL final for the second consecutive time.
Batting first, RCB scored a record 254 runs for 5 wickets. In response, Gujarat Titans team was reduced to just 162 runs. In this match played at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Patidar, while playing the captaincy innings, scored unbeaten 93 runs in just 39 balls.
After the match, Patidar said that the team had entered the field with positive thinking from the beginning and the batsmen kept constant pressure on the Gujarat bowlers.
He said, “It was a great match for us. Especially the way the batsmen dominated and every player batted aggressively was very good for the team. The team did not come with any particular plan, but all the players were fully prepared for the challenge. It was important that our body language and the way of playing made the opposite team feel that we have come to dominate them. The same confidence and intention was visible in every batsman.”
RCB batted fast from the beginning. Venkatesh Iyer, Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal scored runs quickly, after which Patidar and Krunal Pandya completely controlled the match in the middle overs.
The RCB captain said that in the team meeting before the match, special emphasis was laid on maintaining an aggressive mentality.
He said, “We had talked in the meeting that strong body language and attacking mindset will be necessary in big matches. It was a big match like Qualifier-1 and the way we controlled the game was excellent.”
Regarding his batting, Patidar said that he tries to understand the pitch by playing a few balls in the beginning and then plays shots openly. He said, “I usually understand the pitch and the condition of the ball in the first 8-10 balls. After that it becomes clear to me how to bat further. I always like to put pressure on the bowler and do not worry too much about the pitch.”
Patidar also praised the bowlers of the team. He said that the bowlers implemented their plans completely correctly. Gujarat team had lost five wickets in the powerplay itself and could not make a comeback after that. He said, “To be honest, the wicket was not easy to hit long sixes continuously because the bounce was good. Our bowlers bowled brilliantly on the stump line, which paid off.”
RCB’s strategy was to get out Gujarat’s top order early, as Sai Sudarshan, Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler were in tremendous form this season.
Patidar said, “We knew that Gujarat’s biggest strength is their top-3 batsmen. So our plan was to get them out in the powerplay itself and happily, our strategy was successful.”
In the end he said, “Now it is important that the team recovers well and then comes with full preparation for the final.”