IPL 2026 Final: Rajat Patidar wins toss and elects to bowl; RCB unchanged, GT make one

The RCB captain Rajat Patidar has won the toss and elected to bowl first in the IPL 2026 final in Ahmedabad on Sunday (May 31). Defending champions RCB face former one-time winner and 2023 runners-up, the Gujarat Titans, in this summit clash at the Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium. RCB played last year’s final at the same venue, beating Punjab Kings. While RCB is unchanged for their title defence, GT has made just one change to their playing XI.

Check out the two teams –

RCB - Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (captain), Krunal Pandya, Tim David, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Jacob Duffy and Rasikh Salam

RCB sub options - Venkatesh Iyer, Kanishk Chohan, Swapnil Singh, Abhinandan Singh, Jordan Cox

GT - Shubman Gill (captain), Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Nishant Sindhu, Jason Holder, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Arshad Khan and Mohammed Siraj

GT sub options - Prasidh Krishna, Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Kumar Kushagra, Sai Kishore

Here’s what the two captains said,

Rajat Patidar, RCB captain, said, “We'll bowl first. (On the surface) It's a pretty good wicket. The ball will come nicely on the bat, but to be honest, it will not change in the 40 overs. So we'll try to get them as early as possible.

“(How you hold your nerve?) That's important, to keep yourself in the present, not to be too much far ahead. Let's control the controllables, that's it. (Team combination) The same team.”

Shubman Gill, GT captain, said, “(Would you have fielded as well?) No, we would have batted first, honestly. It looks like a good wicket and final game, so hopefully, have some runs on the board and put them under pressure.

“(How are you feeling?) Feeling, I think the boys are ready to go. We are feeling fresh, and we are ready. We've got one change. Arshad (Khan) comes back in for Sai (Kishore).”

Meanwhile, per records, teams batting first have won 10 IPL finals, and those chasing have won eight times.