IPL final: Why Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan falling early is almost game over for GT

Gujarat Titans suffered a massive setback in the IPL 2026 final after losing their two most important batters, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan, inside the powerplay against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Ahmedabad.

Gill was dismissed by Josh Hazlewood for 10 runs, while Sudharsan followed soon after when Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed him for 12. The dismissals have left GT in a difficult position in the biggest match of the season, especially after captain Gill had said at the toss that his team wanted to bat first and put scoreboard pressure on RCB.

The plan has not worked so far. Instead of building a strong platform, Gujarat Titans found themselves under pressure after a slow start. GT are struggling to score quickly and are far behind the kind of total they would have wanted in a final after losing three wickets.

Why will Gill and Sai's dismissals hurt GT?

The biggest reason these wickets hurt GT so much is because Gill and Sudharsan have carried the batting for most of the season. They have been the team's leading run-scorers and have consistently provided strong starts. Both were also in contention to overtake Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the Orange Cap race had they scored big in the final.

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Now, that those two are back in the pavilion, the responsibility has fallen heavily on Jos Buttler and the middle order. While Buttler is one of the most dangerous batters in the world, Gujarat's middle order has not always delivered this season. Washington Sundar and Jason Holder have played some useful knocks, but players such as Rahul Tewatia and Nishant Sindhu have struggled to make a major impact.

This is not the first time GT have found themselves in such a situation. In Qualifier 1 against the same RCB side, Gujarat's top order collapsed while chasing a huge target of 255. The result was a heavy 92-run defeat. The final is beginning to follow a similar pattern, with RCB's pace attack once again removing the key batters early.

The challenge is even bigger because RCB have one of the strongest batting line-ups in the tournament. With players like Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar and Tim David in their ranks, any score below par could prove difficult to defend.