IPL 2026 Final: The final stage of grief is acceptance, and while a sportsperson would not want to accept an impending defeat, Ashish Nehra shocked the fans as he was seen cutting his nails during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 final. Often, closely contested matches result in the falling of nails. However, this is mostly due to people and even coaches biting their nails. But the RCB vs GT final was anything but closely contested. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru cruised to the target of 156 runs in the second innings thanks to a match-winning knock by Virat Kohli. The Gujarat Titans did not put up the best of effort with the bat in hand, with their big three of Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, and Jos Buttler falling cheaply.
IPL 2026 Final: Ashish Nehra defines coolness even in defeat
Cutting nails in a tense final has to be different level nonchalant 😭 pic.twitter.com/a5nQdWScPQ
— Out Of Context Cricket (@GemsOfCricket) May 31, 2026
Despite being called a gentleman’s game, cricket often sees players and even coaches losing their cool. There have been plenty of moments when Ashish Nehra, as a player and the GT coach, lost his cool. However, the Delhi-born pacer shockingly exuded cool and calm even though his team faced an impending defeat in the final of the IPL. During the first innings, when his team was in shambles with the bat in hand, Nehra was calmly cutting his nails with GT skipper, Shubman Gill, by his side.
IPL 2026 Final: How did Gujarat Titans perform with the bat?
Even before the IPL 2026 final was played, the Gujarat Titans were trolled on social media platforms for their style of cricket. The fans believed that the Titans would bat slowly, unlike most of the other teams, which batted at a much higher strike rate. In the final, GT needed ideally two of their top three to play a big knock. Be it Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, or Jos Buttler. However, their worst fears came to life as neither of these three batters managed a big score. Gill was the first player to be dismissed for a score of 10 runs. At the fall of his wicket, GT possibly made a tactical error as they sent out Nishant Sindhu at three instead of Buttler. Sudharsan was then dismissed for a run-a-ball 12 runs. Buttler endured even a tougher time at the crease as he scored 19 runs from 23 balls.
Gujarat Titans had lost their top four at the beginning of the 13th over with only 72 runs on the board. However, tt was Washington Sundar who scored a half-century to push the home team to a respectable score of 155 runs in the final. He remained unbeaten, scoring 50, hitting five fours during his 37-ball stay at the crease.
Pragun is a passionate cricket follower and writer who deeply loves the game. Having completed his education with a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, he has an experience of almost two years in diverse fields. He is known for his statistical and analytical articles. Pragun tries to bring life to his articles by adding a layer of enthusiasm from the perspective of a hardcore fan. Apart from writing cricket articles, he sometimes appears on YouTube videos on a friend’s podcast.
