IPL toss today: Phil Salt skips RCB; Shubman Gill made a big change as GT decided to take part in Qualifier 1 in Dharamsala

Rajat Patidar and Shubman Gill (BCCI/IPL Photo) NEW DELHI: Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill won the toss and opted to field against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the high-voltage IPL 2026 Qualifier 1 encounter at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Tuesday.The winner of the competition will secure a direct place in the IPL 2026 final, while the losing side will get another opportunity in Qualifier 2 against the winner of the Eliminator. Gujarat Titans have made one change to their playing eleven, bringing in Kulwant Khejroliya in place of Arshad Khan.“We’ll bowl first. It looks like a good wicket you know but we’ve seen and especially on this pitch there’s a bit of dew in the second innings so it’s always good to have a total and a big win on the board and then try to chase it down. I think this match is about taking the equation out of the game.”“I played here a lot in under-14s, under-16s. I spent quite a lot of time here, so yes, I hope it will be good for us. And yes, it is one of the nicest pitches in the world. We have one change. Kulwant comes in for Arshad Khan,” he said.On the other hand, defending champions RCB brought in Jacob Duffy as part of the changes for the knockout clash.“I think to be honest, the wicket looks pretty good. It’s pretty tough. It’s going to go pretty well with the bat, so I don’t think it’s going to change in 40 overs. So we’re going to try and put a good total on the board and keep them under pressure. I think the first game of the qualifiers is, I think it’s a nice game to go straight into the final after winning this game, but we got the best time in this game.” said Rajat Patidar.“I think we’ve played good cricket and we’re just focusing more on our strength rather than focusing more on the opposition. So yeah, focusing more on strength is our motto this year. I think the surface looks pretty good. It’s pretty hard. There’s no grass on it, I think. It’s going to be nice to bat on,” he said.Playing XI:Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Washington Sundar, Nishant Sindhu, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Kulwant Khejroliya, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Venkatesh Iyer, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Salam Dar.Here are the Impact substitutes for both teams:Royal Challengers Bengaluru Impact Subs: Romario Shepherd, Suyash Sharma, Kanishk Chouhan, Abhinandan Singh, Jordan CoxGujarat Titans Impact Subs: Rahul Tewatia, Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Kumar Kushagra, Sai Kishore