Shubman Gill misses out as Rajasthan Royals bat first against Gujarat Titans in the ninth match of the IPL 2026 on Saturday, April 4. Gujarat captain is sidelined with a back spasm in a big blow to the hosts ahead of their first home game of the season at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Kumar Kushagra has replaced Shubman Gill in Gujarat Titans' playing eleven against Rajasthan Royals. The Titans also left out Shahrukh Khan on the bench after losing their opening game against Punjab Kings.
Rashid Khan stepped in as a stand-in skipper for the hosts and provided an update on Shubman Gill's absence.
"Well, we wanted to bowl first as well," Rashid said. "Fresh wicket and I feel like there will be some help for the bowlers initially, but we are quite happy with the toss so far. Gill has got bit of a muscle spasm, hopefully he will be back soon."
Gill's injury setback is likely to cost Gujarat Titans in their hunt for the first win of the season. Gill has been a key performer for the Ahmedabad-based franchise in the last three years. He was the leading run-getter for them in the last game against Punjab Kings, scoring 39 runs off 33 balls.
In Shubman Gill's absence, young wicketkeeper batter Kumar Kushagra make his GT debut. He was signed for INR 65 lakh in the IPL 2025 auction and was retained for the 2026 edition.
No Shubman Gill in RR vs GT Game
Gujarat Titans Playing XI: Kumar Kushagra, B Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan (c), Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Ashok Sharma
GT impact subs: Shahrukh Khan, Jason Holder, Manav Suthar, Anuj Rawat, Jayant Yadav
Rajasthan Royals Playing XI: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma
RR impact subs: Ravi Singh, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Shubham Dubey, Brijesh Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi.
Also read: GT vs RR Live Updates
