The reason behind Gill's absence became clear at the toss, with superstar leg-spinner Rashid Khan walking out to lead the team as captain, which also happens to be a surprising and eagerly awaited debut. At the time of going to print with the official team sheet, the star-batter was withdrawn from the game at the very last minute by the team management after a complaint of sudden muscle spasm.

"We wanted to bowl first. Gill has a muscle spasm, hopefully he will be back soon," said Rashid Khan at the time of the toss.

Although there is no official report on the severity of the muscle spasm, the optimism expressed by Rashid Khan clearly states that it is only a minor injury and hence Gill has been rested to not risk his fitness in the later stages of IPL 2026.

GT looks to adapt to missing Shubman

The responsibility to anchor the innings will now lie heavily on the shoulders of Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler, who scored 39 in the previous game for GT, a highest score.

Without their regular captain in the squad, GT handed the reins of the team to veteran leg-spinner Rashid Khan and gave a chance to Jharkhand's star batter, Kumar Kushagra, in the lineup for their maiden IPL debut at the batting slot which will be an important one, of course.

Gujarat Titans playing XI: Kumar Kushagra, Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (w), Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan (c), Kagiso Rabada, Ashok Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.

Rajasthan Royals playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (w), Riyan Parag (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma.

Gujarat Titans, looking for their first victory in IPL 2026, will have to do the job without their regular captain against Rajasthan Royals.