Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans met in the IPL 2026 Eliminator on Wednesday evening at Mullanpur, with Riyan Parag winning the toss and choosing to bat first. The winner was set to face Royal Challengers Bengaluru on May 31 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
For Rajasthan, the stakes were stark. The side has not won the championship since the inaugural 2008 season, and it arrived in this knockout on the back of a 47-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator. That win was shaped by a sensational knock from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, whose form had become one of the team’s biggest talking points.
Gujarat came in with momentum of its own, with Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan in good touch and a bowling unit built around Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada and Mohammad Siraj. That combination gave the Titans a clear edge on paper, especially in a short-format contest where one spell can tilt everything.
The match-up around Sooryavanshi looked likely to be decisive. Rajasthan’s young batter had already produced the kind of innings that can change a playoff run, and Gujarat’s attack had the pace, skill and variation to test him early. If he settled again, Rajasthan’s batting order could find the freedom it needed; if he fell quickly, the pressure would shift straight back onto the Royals’ middle order.
Rajasthan’s predicted XI underlined how much they were leaning on balance and experience alongside youth, with Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Donovan Ferreira, Dasun Shanaka, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma and Yash Raj Punja named in the expected line-up. Gujarat’s predicted XI featured Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Jos Buttler, Washington Sundar, Nishant Sindhu, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna.
The tension in this eliminator was simple. Rajasthan were chasing another shot at a title that has eluded them for 18 years, while Gujarat arrived with the stronger recent batting rhythm and a formidable attack. One team was trying to extend a comeback; the other was trying to make sure the Royals’ revival stopped in Mullanpur.
What followed would determine whether Rajasthan’s season continued toward Ahmedabad or ended with another reminder of how distant that 2008 triumph has become.
