'Not in my control': Patidar on IPL final moving from Bengaluru to Ahmedabad

NEW DELHI: The victor of Qualifier 1 - beryllium it defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru oregon Gujarat Titans - volition straight publication a spot successful the IPL 2026 final. The acme clash volition beryllium played astatine the Narendra Modi Stadium successful Ahmedabad.

During the pre-Qualifier 1 property conference, RCB skipper Rajat Patidar was asked astir the defending champions perchance missing retired connected playing the last astatine their location ground, the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, if they suffice for the rubric clash.The BCCI shifted the IPL 2026 last to Ahmedabad citing operational reasons.

"It's not successful my control. I deliberation BCCI has to determine wherever the last is going to be. This is simply a historical site, truthful wherever the last is going to be, that's wherever it is going to be.

We are focused connected reaching the final," Patidar told reporters.RCB volition transportation the assurance of defending champions into Qualifier 1 erstwhile they instrumentality connected Gujarat Titans astatine the scenic HPCA Stadium successful Dharamsala connected Tuesday.The victor volition beforehand straight to the last successful Ahmedabad connected Sunday, portion the losing broadside volition get different accidental done Qualifier 2. The loser of Qualifier 1 volition look the victor of the Eliminator betwixt Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals.

Both RCB and GT finished the league signifier connected 18 points from 14 matches, with RCB securing the apical spot due to the fact that of a superior nett tally complaint aft a consistently beardown campaign.Patidar besides admitted that bowlers are uncovering it progressively hard to past successful an IPL play dominated by 200-plus totals. The RCB skipper acknowledged that adjacent scores of 220-250 are nary longer harmless and said the conditions person made beingness tougher, particularly for pacers."I consciousness it is much challenging for the bowlers. The wickets are batting friendly, boundaries are smaller and determination is dew arsenic well. Especially for accelerated bowlers, adjacent a tiny mistake goes for six," Patidar said during the pre-match media interaction."But immoderate wicket oregon conditions we get, we conscionable effort to bash our champion connected that. It is not successful my hands to determine however the wickets should be," helium added."Both teams person done beauteous good passim the season. On the fixed day, whichever squad executes its plans amended and stays calm nether pressure, is going to win," helium said.SQUADS:Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Rajat Patidar (captain), Virat Kohli, Tim David, Jacob Bethell, Romario Shepherd, Josh Hazlewood, Nuwan Thushara, Devdutt Padikkal, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Krunal Pandya, Rasikh Dar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jordan Cox, Suyash Sharma, Venkatesh lyer, Swapnil Singh, Jacob Duffy, Kanishk Chouhan, Abhinandan Singh, Mangesh Yadav, Phil Salt, Satvik Deswal, Vicky Ostwal, Vihaan Malhotra.Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Kumar Kushagra, Glenn Phillips, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kagiso Rabada, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Sharma, Jason Holder, Tom Banton, Luke Wood, Sai Sudharsan, Rahul Tewatia, Arshad Khan, Anuj Rawat, Kulwant Khejroliya, Gurnoor Brar, M Shahrukh Khan