Royal Challengers Bengaluru booked an IPL 2026 final place by tearing into Gujarat Titans’ much-praised new-ball pair in Dharamsala, and the fallout has been quick. Tom Moody, speaking on ESPNcricinfo TimeOut, felt the Titans’ plan works only when conditions help them. Ambati Rayudu went further, arguing the bowling is so one-dimensional that GT “either have the game under complete control or they lose it.”
First, the numbers. Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj – usually relentless with hard lengths that jag or swing – returned a collective 7-0-100-2. Both wickets came through Rabada; Siraj went wicketless. By the sixth over RCB already had 76, Venkatesh Iyer scoring at 271, Devdutt Padikkal above 200 and Virat Kohli not far behind. Rajat Patidar’s unbeaten 93 from 33 then iced it. The Titans, used to bullying teams at a helpful Ahmedabad, suddenly looked short of ideas on a true pitch.
“Their predictability is hurting them [when the conditions are not to their liking],” Ambati Rayudu said. Rayudu believes batting sides walk in knowing exactly what is coming: Test-match lines, rib-high length, the occasional yorker. If there is no seam or swing, runs arrive quickly.
Moody agreed, drawing a parallel with another franchise who rely on favourable surfaces. “When there’s zero movement in the surface, that’s when they’re vulnerable, because they don’t have the real extreme change-ups, you know, of pace and variety,” he said. “They do become predictable for that. It’s a bit like Sunrisers [Hyderabad]. As soon as Sunrisers are put on a surface that’s doing a bit, that batting line-up really struggles. So it’s the complete opposite.”
Moody’s argument is simple: GT have a clear trump card – the hard length that bites. Without that, plan B is patchy. “You get the ball just nipping or swinging a little bit, and Siraj and Rabada – all the very best to you, because you’re going to have a tough examination. This is a very, very flat surface. And we saw that in the powerplay. And they don’t have the answers, they don’t have the huge change-ups of pace, the deception, they don’t have the [Lungi] Ngidi slower ball or something [making the batters] go reaching for it. They’ve got them, but they’re not their trump card,” he said.
For Moody, it always comes back to that preferred method. “Their trump card is when it’s doing a bit and they can hit that hard length and create issues both on inside and on the outside of the bat.”
Rayudu pushed the same idea but from a tactical angle. “You know what to expect [against GT], and when good batsmen, like what RCB have, know that this is the kind of bowling that’s going to come at us, they are prepared for it,” he said. “You can only be so good, but on a given day a batsman goes after you, what is your plan B? You don’t have great slower balls. You don’t bowl defensive bowling up top. Sometimes you need to go defensive on surfaces that are very, very good, to become attacking again after you get a wicket. You need to always have the game under control and GT, one way or the other, either they have it under complete control or they lose it.”
Decision-making at the toss also came in for scrutiny. Captain Shubman Gill opted to chase despite two earlier successful chases at the ground this season. Rayudu reckons that was a mis-step. “Yeah, I told that yesterday also to a friend who asked me ‘what it is best chance [for GT]’ and I said they should lose the toss,” he admitted with a laugh. His reasoning: GT feel safest setting a target, letting their quicks exploit any evening movement rather than defending on a flat afternoon track.
Neither analyst is writing the Titans off – they still have a second shot in Qualifier 2 – yet both stress the need for flexibility. On flatter pitches they may have to accept a par powerplay rather than chasing wickets. Short-of-a-length cross-seam into the pitch, slower-ball bouncers or the wide-line yorker can all act as brakes. At the moment, those variations are used sparingly.
The Titans’ coaching staff, not short of data, know this. But changing a method that has delivered two playoff appearances in two seasons is difficult mid-tournament. If the next match is on a greener surface they may look world-class again; if not, the same questions will return.
For RCB the story is simpler: bravery up top, clarity in the middle, and a bowling unit comfortable defending 200-plus. They now wait for the winner of Qualifier 2. GT, meanwhile, must show they have more than one gear. Lose again, and the “predictable” tag will stick right through the off-season.
