Rashid Khan Steps Up as Gill Sits Out Gujarat Titans vs RR Clash

Dr. Annelies De Vos · 2026-04-05

The Gujarat Titans faced a major curveball just before their IPL 2026 match against the Rajasthan Royals this past Saturday. Their regular captain, Shubman Gill, was suddenly ruled out with a muscle spasm. That left the team scrambling, and they handed the captain's armband to star leg-spinner Rashid Khan on very short notice. Honestly, it was a shock for everyone watching. Gill had been at training sessions right up until the game. He'd even played in the season opener against Punjab Kings, scoring a solid 39 runs. So his last-minute scratch raised some real eyebrows, even though Rashid was quick to downplay the severity. ### The Captain's Calm at the Toss Rashid Khan addressed it all with his typical cool demeanor at the coin toss. "Gill has a muscle spasm; hopefully, he will be back soon," he told the broadcasters. He also shared the news that young wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra, or "KK," was making his IPL debut, adding a bit of excitement to an otherwise tense situation. This isn't the first time Gill has dealt with this kind of issue, and that's the worrying part. Just last year, during India's Test series in South Africa, a neck spasm sidelined him for a Test and the following ODI series. He bounced back for the New Zealand ODIs, showing how crucial he is. But these recurring muscle problems? The Titans' medical staff will be watching him like a hawk as the tournament goes on.  ### Rajasthan Seizes the Initiative Over in the other dugout, Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag won the toss and made a decisive call. He chose to bat first, which was actually the first time any captain had done that after winning the toss in IPL 2026. Parag backed his team to set a big target. "We are going to be batting first. We got to assess and adapt... Hopefully we will put up a good score around 210 and defend it later on," he said. It made sense. The Narendra Modi Stadium is famous for being a batter's paradise, with teams regularly scoring over 200. But chasing there can be a nightmare, so setting a target is often the smarter play. Rajasthan was riding high, too, after crushing Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets in their first game.  ### Gujarat's Deepening Troubles Let's be real, Gujarat had problems even before Gill's name was off the team sheet. Their loss to Punjab Kings exposed some serious flaws: - An over-reliance on the top order to score all the runs - A middle order that looked fragile under pressure - A batting collapse that let Punjab steal the win With Gill out, the pressure on guys like Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler, and Glenn Phillips went through the roof. They had to reshuffle the whole lineup, pushing debutant Kushagra to the top. Here’s how the teams lined up: **Gujarat Titans:** Kumar Kushagra, Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan (c), Kagiso Rabada, Ashok Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna. **Rajasthan Royals:** Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma. In the end, Rajasthan put up 210 for 6 in their 20 overs. Gujarat fought hard but fell just agonizingly short, finishing at 204 for 8. It was a close game, but the early disruption with their captain clearly left the Titans playing catch-up from the very start.