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Pink painted the stadium once ruled by blue, as the Rajasthan Royals clung to a narrow win after holding firm at 210. Without Shubman Gill, pulled out by a sudden cramp, the Gujarat Titans stumbled, first in rhythm, then in spirit. A quiet start gave way to chaos under floodlights, ending not with triumph but silence. Victory slipped through fingers that had gripped so tightly moments before.
Dhruv Jurel stood tall when Rajasthan needed him most. His 75 felt less like runs on the board and more like defiance carved into every stroke. Alongside came Yashasvi Jaiswal, unfazed as ever, facing elite bowlers as though they were mere shadows of themselves. On the opposite side, Sai Sudharsan fought hard, stitching together 73 under fading light, trying to spark something alive in silence.
Yet none could match what followed. Into this stepped Ravi Bishnoi. With his leg-spin, he spun confusion, knot after knot, until GT's batters moved like figures lost in fog.
Late in the match, everything hung in the final over. Gujarat needed 11 runs to win. Tushar Deshpande had struggled before under pressure, but not this time. Calm like still water, he shut down the attack. Rashid Khan fell to his delivery. Only 4 runs slipped through. The stadium froze, no cheers, only quiet disbelief.
IPL 2026 Match 9: GT vs RR Player Ratings
RR Player Ratings vs GT -
1. Yashasvi Jaiswal - 8.5/10
55 quick runs from 36 balls set things up just right. Right away, he turned two eleven zero into something ordinary. Hitting boundaries early still gives Rajasthan its sharpest edge.
2. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi - 7/10
Still just a teenager, he stands tall when it counts. His 31 runs from 18 balls set the stage; the middle overs turned explosive because of him. Calm under fire, even as Rabada fires bullets at 150 kph. Age doesn’t show in his stance, nor in his timing. Pressure? Doesn’t register on his face.
3. Riyan Parag - 6.5/10
Far off the edge of things, he scored 8 runs from 4 balls under calm skies. His leadership, though, moved fast, jumping into the bowl at just the right tilt. That move, tossing himself into a knock-out, felt risky until it didn’t; timing made it work.
4. Dhruv Jurel - 9.5/10
What a display of clean hitting under pressure. 75 runs from 42 balls shaped Rajasthan's entire innings. Instead of simply smashing sixes, he guided gaps smartly, especially targeting Siraj when the pace slowed down late. Even his quiet moment, getting out to that clever slow ball, reminded everyone he can stumble too.
5. Shimron Hetmyer - 6/10
8 balls, 18 runs. Just enough power when it mattered most, he followed through on the plan, but that final push never quite came. A burst without a climax.
6. Ravindra Jadeja - 6/10
Off the mark almost immediately, the pitch gave little help, making his spin work harder than normal. 25 runs slipped through in two tight overs, no wicket to show. Later, with the bat, timing never clicked; seven deliveries brought seven runs, then silence took over. Hopes for a push at the death faded fast when he slowed instead.
7. Sandeep Sharma - 4.5/10
His strength usually lies in tight bowling during early and late overs, yet this time, Sai Sudharsan took charge against him. Not one wicket came his way. Thirty-four runs flowed from his three overs instead. Although he tried the deceptive deliveries that define him, the Gujarat Titans batters read them sooner than expected.
8. Donovan Ferreira - 3/10
Late arrival, big hopes, yet the bat stayed silent. One single run was scored from 3 balls faced. While others lit up the field, his moment faded fast. A short turn with little echo.
9. Tushar Deshpande - 8.5/10
Holding firm under fire, with 11 runs to defend and Rashid Khan waiting, Deshpande moved as if lost in practice. Calm. Precise. Only 4 runs trickled through when pressure peaked.
10. Nandre Burger - 6.5/10
Nandre Burger started steadily. His lines held tight under pressure, just when Sudharsan began finding gaps too easily. Three overs,1/29, numbers that tell half the story.
11. Jofra Archer - 7/10
Though he failed to claim a wicket, that second-to-last over - just four runs leaked, mattered just as much as Deshpande’s closing one. Not flash, simply fast and sharp.
12. Ravi Bishnoi - 9/10
A twist nobody saw coming. Those numbers, 4/41, miss the real story, how he quietly shattered the Titans’ rhythm. Whenever GT started building momentum, Bishnoi struck, slipping one past their guard. The moment he removed Rahul Tewatia, the threat faded fast.
Also Read: Riyan Parag’s gamble pays off for RR: “Took a chance, and the boys delivered”
GT Players' Ratings vs RR:
1. Sai Sudharsan - 8.5/10
One man stood tall. Scoring 73 from 44 deliveries, he alone kept GT alive when everything else fell apart. While teammates folded quickly, he held firm - proof again of his precise skill under pressure. Yet no one joined him to push through the final stretch.
2. Kumar Kushagra - 5.5/10
When handed the opener's role, he scored 18 runs from 14 balls. Not bad at first glance, yet things slowed once the spin came on. His inability to keep the scoreboard ticking added weight to Sudharsan’s shoulders.
3. Jos Buttler - 6/10
Fresh off a quickfire 26 runs from just 14 balls, Jos Buttler brought flashbacks of past form. Once part of the RR’s core, he sparked early danger. Then came Rajasthan’s shift in line, wide and nagging, which slowly shut him down. His rhythm slipped under the pressure.
4. Rahul Tewatia - 5/10
Rain began falling just after the third wicket fell. From nowhere, two boundaries flew off Bishnoi’s bowling, first a four, then a six. Hope rose, brief and bright. Then, silence, the batter walked back without raising his bat again.
5. Shahrukh Khan - 5.5/10
That fleeting appearance by Shahrukh Khan - 11 runs from just 4 balls didn’t shift much. Well-timed shots found gaps twice, yet mirroring GT’s middle lineup, he exited before anchoring anything real.
6. Washington Sundar - 5/10
He managed just four runs when batting, which wasn’t much to speak about. The bowlers ahead of him ate up the overs, so he never got into rhythm.
7. Glenn Phillips - 4/10
Not quite the match for the New Zealand star. Phillips failed to settle, gone cheaply after facing only four balls. Still buzzing on the boundary ropes, he snapped up two quick catches to send back Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Donovan Ferreira. The team missed his firepower when they most needed it through the middle. That lack of punch with the bat won’t sit well; he’ll want that behind him fast.
8. Kagiso Rabada - 7/10
Taking 2 wickets for 42 runs. His bat chips in with 23 from 16 balls, unexpected, sharp, lively. Near the end, he swings hard, nearly dragging hope across the line.
9. Mohammed Siraj - 4.5/10
He finished with 0/48 across four overs - numbers that tell a quiet story of trouble. Not quite hitting the right spots when it mattered most. Over and again, deliveries lined up exactly where Jurel liked them. With Gujarat counting on him to steer the bowling, he slipped into the role of easy prey. The weight of expectation never lifted.
10. Prasidh Krishna - 5/10
A breakthrough came early when Prasidh dismissed Jaiswal. Yet those four overs cost him 43 runs. The pitch offered little help. Five runs per over piled up without relief.
11. Rashid Khan - 7/10
Ending on 24 from 16 balls, he held firm without Gill by his side, claiming a key wicket along the way. That last over slipping through his fingers will hurt, more so after coming so close to sealing it. A moment that could have defined him now lingers, unanswered.
12. Ashok Sharma - 8/10
Young Ashok Sharma holds a cool head when big names start tumbling out. A score of 1/37 from his four overs stands as the tightest among the Gujarat Titans’ main fast bowlers. The moment he removed Shimron Hetmyer, a batter capable of shifting momentum fast, possibly cutting off 15 to 20 runs during the final overs.
