GT bowling attack stronger than RCB: Virender Sehwag names Qualifier 1 X-factor

Former India opener Virender Sehwag believes Gujarat Titans will head into Qualifier 1 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru with a stronger bowling attack and warns that RCB’s bowling struggles against Sunrisers Hyderabad could become a serious problem heading into the IPL 2026 playoffs. However, Sehwag also backed RCB to treat the SRH defeat as a rare respite rather than panicking too much ahead of the biggest game of their season.

RCB secure top two spot despite suffering heavy 55-run defeat against SRH in their final game of the league stage where their bowling attack endured one of the toughest nights of the season. Speaking to Cricbuzz ahead of the playoff match, Sehwag said that RCB will hope that the performance was just a bad day and not the start of a bigger problem.

“This could just be a rare off day so they should accept that they had a bad day where Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood both didn’t pick up any wickets, nobody bowled well that day,” Sehwag said.

“So they should look to forget it and move on. But if it happens again in the playoffs, they can concede more than 255 there because the boundaries are quite short. So it’s important for RCB that their bowling works because GT’s bowling is quite good. RCB have to be careful.”

The warning comes at a crucial stage of the season, especially with Gujarat Titans having one of the most consistent pace attacks in IPL 2026 going into the playoffs.

WHY GT BOWLING ATTACK STAND OUT

Much of Gujarat Titans’ dominance this season has come from the consistency of Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada with a new ball.

Rabada goes into the playoffs with 24 wickets in 14 matches at an economy of 9.19, while Siraj has picked up 17 wickets in his 14 matches at an economy of 8.59.

The duo dominated especially in power-ups.

Rabada equaled Mohammed Shami’s IPL record for most power-over wickets in a single season after taking 17 wickets in the first six overs during IPL 2026. Meanwhile, Siraj removed 13 wickets in the power-over and bowled a staggering 148 balls in just 306 balls this season – the most in the tournament.

Together, they have repeatedly allowed Gujarat Titans to dictate matches early by strangling the opposition batting line-ups even before the middle overs begin.

One of the best examples came during GT’s crushing 89-run win over Chennai Super Kings, where Siraj dismantled the top order in the powerplay before Rabada stepped up the pressure from the other end.

GT assistant coach Vijay Dahiya recently described the chemistry between Siraj and Rabada as “phenomenal” and said the two bowlers get along “mentally and skill-wise”.

RCB BOWLING UNDER PRESSURE

While RCB have experienced names like Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, their bowling performance during IPL 2026 has fluctuated wildly.

RCB have conceded a total of over 200 runs in half the matches they have played this season, revealing a recurring problem despite Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar enjoying strong campaigns individually.

This concern became even more visible during the defeat against SRH where Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar combined for 106 runs in eight matches while Hyderabad piled up 255 runs.

Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen attacked RCB relentlessly, especially exposing their lengths during the middle overs and death phase.

The pressure for the play-offs is now even greater as Dharamsala have also produced high-scoring contests with shorter boundaries this season, which are likely to heavily favor aggressive batting sides again.

However, RCB will still draw confidence from their batting power led by Virat Kohli, Phil Salt and skipper Rajat Patidar, while Gujarat Titans continue to rely heavily on their balanced bowling attack and the consistency of Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan at the top.

With a direct spot in the IPL 2026 final at stake, the Qualifier 1 clash could now ultimately come down to which bowling attack can handle the pressure better.

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Issued by:

Debodinna Chakraborty

Published on:

25 May 2026 22:18 IST

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