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Kagiso Rabada broke a major IPL record by taking the wicket of Venkatesh Iyer in the IPL 2026 Qualifier. The South African player has a tough competition from RCB’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the Purple Cap this season.
Gujarat Titans made it to IPL 2026 Qualifier 1 after finishing second behind RCB in the IPL 2026 points table due to run rate. A major force behind this success was experienced fast bowler Kagiso Rabada.
Kagiso Rabada broke a big record in IPL 2026!
With Gujarat Titans facing off against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the first playoff game of the season, Kagiso Rabada was one of GT’s most reliable sources. Shubman Gill won the toss and decided to bowl first.
The second over of the match was bowled by Kagiso Rabada and Venkatesh Iyer hit a powerful six on the 5th ball of the over. Venky Iyer was out on the last ball of the over and a back-of-length delivery once again did wonders for the South African.
This was Rabada’s 18th wicket of the season in the powerplay. With this, he broke the record of taking most wickets in the powerplay in a season of IPL, which was earlier in the name of Mohammed Shami while playing for GT in 2023.
Kagiso Rabada now has the most powerplay wickets by any bowler in an IPL season pic.twitter.com/crwavKnufZ
– ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) 26 May 2026
Kagiso Rabada’s best season in IPL history
Kagiso Rabada made his IPL debut for Delhi Capitals in 2017, and the young South African was a nightmare for batsmen in the IPL during his debut season. In his next two full seasons for the Capitals, he took 55 wickets in 29 matches.
Jason Holder brings back GT with stunning double strike
Gujarat Titans opted to bowl first citing the need to impose some restrictions on the dangerous RCB batting deck on the friendly track of Dharamshala. However, despite Rabada’s early wicket, the Challengers once again dominated the powerplay.
Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli powered through the powerplay to see them finish on a strong note of 76 runs. However, after two quiet overs of the powerplay, Jason Holder returned in the 9th over to dismiss Kohli outside the off stump with a short ball which was pulled back into the stumps.
Holder hits a four again on the third ball, Padikkal walks back to the dugout after a solid start. He turned the match with that over as the Challengers gradually started struggling to score runs.
Also read: Ambati Rayudu names top 5 IPL captains of all time, including Rajat Patidar along with MS Dhoni