The batting might of the Rajasthan Royals will be up against arguably the best bowling side of the tournament, the Gujarat Titans, in Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League 2026. It will be some battle to watch out for when Vaibhav Sooryavanshi takes on the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Rashid Khan in what could well define the course of this game.
Sooryavanshi has dismantled bowling line-ups one after the other. He has been on a run-scoring spree this season, having already made 680 runs in 15 innings and owning some big records. The youngster has recently shattered Chris Gayle's record for most sixes in a T20 league and missed out on his fastest IPL century record by a whisker against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator.
GT the best bowling attack of IPL 2026
When he comes up against Rabada and Co., eyes will be glued to the screens to watch the battle. GT are the most prolific bowling outfit of the tournament, having taken 112 wickets in 15 matches, 10 more than the second-best RR. They have the best bowling average of 24, more than three better than again the second-ranked RR. Their economy rate is 9.52, second only to Kolkata Knight Riders, who have an RPO of 9.27. GT have conceded only five totals of over 200 this season, by far the fewest among all four playoff teams.
This makes GT the best bowling line-up of the tournament so far, despite their drubbing against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Qualifier 1 when they were smacked for 254/5. There are reasons behind why GT are doing well with the ball.
All five of their front-line bowlers are among the top 15 wicket-takers this season. Kagiso Rabada leads the charge with 26 wickets in 15 innings, which are the joint-most alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Rashid Khan has 19 wickets, Mohammed Siraj tallies 17, Jason Holder and Prasidh Krishna 15 each.
RR the best opening side
RR are one of the best opening batting sides in the tournament. Despite Yashasvi Jaiswal not having a brilliant season, Sooryavanshi and Jaiswal have tallied 1106 runs in total. For the opening wicket, they have put together 747 runs at an average of 49.8, the second-best among all teams and only behind GT. But their scoring rate is far superior to GT. The Royals' openers have batted at 12.34 per over for the opening wicket, which is the second-best, while GT's scoring rate has been 9.95, the third lowest among all 10 teams.
Rabada, Siraj and Prasidh have been rewarded for their Test-match style bowling, having troubled the opposition with their lines and lengths. Sooryavanshi has put almost all lengths to the distance. When these two powerhouses collide, New Chandigarh will hold its breath to see who comes out on top and meet RCB in the final.
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