Dharamshala, May 27 (IANS) Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill admitted that poor fielding and mistakes under pressure proved costly as his side suffered a crushing 92-run defeat against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala on Tuesday.

The loss ended Gujarat’s hopes of reaching the final directly, while defending champions RCB booked their place in a second consecutive IPL final after bowling out GT for 162 in reply to a massive 254/5.

Gill said Gujarat were still in the game till the middle overs but failed to handle pressure situations properly. “I think we were going pretty well up until the 12th or 13th over. I don’t think our fielding was at par. We dropped a couple of catches, and our ground fielding was also not up to the mark,” Gill said after the match.

RCB captain Rajat Patidar made Gujarat pay heavily for those missed chances, smashing an unbeaten 93 off just 39 balls. Gujarat also leaked runs through misfields and no-balls during the middle overs as RCB registered the highest total in IPL playoff history.

Reflecting on the defeat, Gill described it as a match the team would prefer to move on from quickly. “This is one of those games that we would like to forget and start over in Mohali,” he said.

Despite the disappointing result, the Gujarat captain insisted the team regularly works on fielding during practice and team meetings. “It’s definitely something that we address in team meetings and practice sessions. The intensity was there, but in pressure situations, we were not up to the mark,” Gill added.

Chasing a daunting target of 255 on a batting-friendly Dharamshala pitch, Gujarat lost wickets at regular intervals. Gill himself was dismissed for just two runs by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, while Jos Buttler’s quick 29 was the only early resistance before Rahul Tewatia fought a lone battle with 68 off 43 balls.

Gill, however, believed the target could still have been chased if GT had managed a strong start in the power play. “It’s all about getting a good start. On a ground like this, where the ball travels, and the outfield is quick, if we had a good power play, any target could have been chaseable with the way the wicket was playing,” he explained.

The Gujarat skipper also reacted to Sai Sudharsan’s unusual dismissal during the chase. Sudharsan lost control of his bat while playing a shot, and the bat bounced back onto the stumps to dislodge the bails. “You don’t see that kind of dismissal very often, so that was very unfortunate,” Gill said.

Gujarat Titans will now look to regroup quickly ahead of their next knockout clash in Mohali as they continue their fight for a place in the IPL 2026 final.

–IANS

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