Former Indian opening batsman Virender Sehwag believe that Gujarat Titans have a big advantage on Royal Challengers Bangalore Ahead of much-awaited bowling department qualifier 1 clash in ipl 2026. According to Sehwag, Gujarat’s disciplined and consistent pace attack gives them an edge in pressure situations, while RCB’s bowling unit is still a question mark despite finishing in the top two.
The former Indian opener specifically pointed to GT’s ability to dominate games during powerplay overs, which he believes has separated them from many teams this season. Sehwag also warned that RCB’s recent bowling failure against Sunrisers Hyderabad should not be completely ignored even if the franchise wants to take it as an off-day.
Virender Sehwag worried about RCB’s inconsistent bowling
RCB entered the playoffs after suffering a crushing 55-run defeat against SRH in their final league stage game. Hyderabad scored a huge score of 255 runs, which exposed the weakness of Bengaluru’s bowling at a crucial stage of the tournament. While RCB has experienced bowlers like Josh Hazlewood And Bhuvneshwar KumarSehwag believes that the team has struggled to maintain consistency throughout the season. The team has scored over 200 in almost half of its matches, indicating a recurring issue rather than an isolated concern.
Against SRH, Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar had a particularly tough performance, conceding a total of 106 runs in eight overs without taking any wickets. Sehwag said that RCB hopes such a performance remains a one-off incident, but he also stressed that another similar performance in the playoffs could prove disastrous.
He pointed out that short boundaries and high-scoring conditions in knockout games can increase the pressure on RCB bowlers. According to Sehwag, if Bengaluru fails to control the scoring rate in the beginning, then strong batting teams can once again snatch the match from them.
“He may have had a rare off-day, so he must accept that he had a bad day, where Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood both did not take any wickets, nobody bowled well that day.” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
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Sehwag explains why GT has a strong bowling attack
Sehwag gave special praise to the pace attack led by Gujarat Titans Kagiso Rabada And Mohammad Siraj. The pair have been instrumental in GT’s successful IPL 2026 campaign, regularly destroying opposition batting line-ups in the powerplay. Rabada has enjoyed a stellar season, taking 24 wickets in 14 matches and has shown consistent success with the new ball. The South African fast bowler also equaled the IPL record for most wickets in the powerplay in a season after taking 17 wickets inside the first six overs.
Meanwhile, Siraj has complemented Rabada perfectly with his accuracy and constant pressure. He has taken 17 wickets this season while maintaining an impressive economy rate. More importantly, Siraj has bowled 148 dot balls in just 306 balls, the most by any bowler in the tournament so far.
Sehwag believes that this ability to stop runs and attack gives GT a stronger and more balanced bowling unit than RCB. He said that Gujarat’s bowlers have continuously given the team the opportunity to take early decisions in the match, which has reduced the pressure on their middle overs and batting department.
“So, they should forget it and move on. But if it happens again in the playoffs, they can give a score of more than 255 there because the boundaries are quite short. So, it is important for RCB that their bowling works, because GT’s bowling is quite good. RCB has to be careful.” Added Sehwag.
