Earlier in the season, Rashid Khan openly admitted that Gujarat Titans don’t have the scariest middle order in the IPL, a weakness that could end up hurting them. But he also pointed out that GT’s bowling attack was better than most teams in the competition. Tuesday night in Ahmedabad, Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj delivered a chilling reminder exactly what Rashid had in mind.
GT vs SRH, IPL 2026: Scorecard | Highlighting
The Titans’ batting doesn’t always overwhelm opponents with brute force, but their pitching has repeatedly found ways to suffocate teams under pressure. Sunrisers Hyderabad became the latest victims as Rabada and Siraj unleashed absolute mayhem in the powerplay as they scripted an 82-run demolition that pushed SRH to their lowest total in IPL history.
Defense 168 on the surface which heavily favored teams batting first this season, Gujarat knew that early wickets would tilt the game decisively in their favour. Rabada and Siraj ensured there was no escape route for Hyderabad, reducing them to 34 for three in the over with relentless pace, movement and hostility. From that moment on, the chase felt less like competition and more like survival.
The victory was also of great importance in the playoffs. Gujarat surged to 16 points, a historically magical number in a 10-team IPL season, with no team ever qualifying for the playoffs after reaching that mark. With their fearsome pace peaking at the right time, the Titans are starting to look like a side no team would want to face in the knockout stages.
HOW SIRAJ, RABADA WAS BURNING
They say the morning shows the day, and for the Titans the signs were clear from the start. Mohammed Siraj set the tone with a fiery goal, removing the dangerous Travis Head and immediately putting Sunrisers on the back foot. Notably, Siraj has now taken four wickets in the first over of the innings in IPL 2026, highlighting how often he has given the Titans a perfect start.
Then came Rabada, hurling with menace and intensity. Abhishek Sharma welcomed him with a towering six off the very first ball, but Rabada responded like an elite fast bowler, with hostility and a wicket.
Abhishek’s dismissal had an element of luck as the ball hit the inside edge and then bounced off the pads and rolled back onto the stumps as the SRH opener looked horrified. But Rabada earned that luck with sheer aggression and relentless pace. As they say, fortune favors the brave.
Ishan Kishan attempted a similar counter-attack and blasted Rabada for another six early in the spell. Again the South African had the last word as he extended a weak outside edge to send Kishan back. Siraj then tightened the screws further, knocking down Smaran Ravichandran with a stream of dotted balls and almost showing the second maiden in the power-play before he was denied by a single off the last ball.
Rabada soon came back to remove Ravichandran too and put the Titans on top. By the time the powerplay damage was done, Gujarat had already pushed Hyderabad into survival mode, leaving bowlers like Jason Holder and others with nothing to do but complete the formalities.
LENGTH OF TEST MATCH PERFORMING THE TRICK
Both Siraj and Rabada built their reputations in Test cricket and it was the red-ball discipline that proved devastating for the Titans. Rather than chasing magical deliveries, the pace duo relentlessly attacked the disciplined lengths of the Tests, forcing the SRH batsmen into errors even during the chaos of the power-play.
After the match, Sai Kishore credited Siraj and Rabada for sticking to the basics. He also praised captain Shubman Gill and coach Ashish Nehru for giving the fast bowlers absolute clarity on their plans with the new ball.
“I think Siraj and Rabada have hit their lengths really well. That’s the advantage of having the right Test-match bowlers in your line-up. We’ve also had great guidance from Shubman Gill and Ashish Nehra in terms of our bowling philosophy and the lengths we need to play in the overs,” Kishore said at the post-match press conference.
“On wickets like these, we didn’t rely too much on slower balls or yorkers. Instead, we consistently relied on hard lengths and good areas. I think the right style of Test-match bowling has made a huge difference for us this season,” added Kishore.
With Siraj and Rabada breathing fire, the Titans have moved so close to sealing a place in the playoffs. But GT would know better than to relax at this stage. Last season they looked set for a top-two finish and a two-shot cushion to reach the finals, but lost two games on the trot to slip out of the top two altogether.
The Titans will now take on the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens and will be hoping their premiership pace continues at the top at the business end of the tournament. If Siraj and Rabada continue to bowl with this kind of menace and control, Gujarat will become even scarier as the playoffs approach.
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Published on:
13 May 2026 07:42 IST
