Shubman Gill and Rajat Patidar in frame. Image Credit: ANI
IPL 2026 Playoffs: The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 is truly in its business end. The playoffs will begin today, as only four teams remain in contention to win the 19th season of the grand league. Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans, having finished first and second on the IPL 2026 points table respectively, will clash at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala. Thanks to finishing in the top two in the points table, the team losing today will not be knocked out. However, the statistics suggest losing tonight could very well mean kissing goodbye to the IPL trophy. Here is a look at how the teams have performed after winning Qualifier 1 in IPL before the RCB vs GT clash.
It has been 15 years since the Indian Premier League moved away from the traditional semi-final format. There is no denying the current format truly embodies the spirit of rewarding teams who have done well over the whole season and giving them two shots at making the final.
In the current format, teams finishing first and second on the points table play Qualifier 1. The winner of this game goes to the final. Meanwhile, the loser of this game is not knocked out but faces the winner of Eliminator (3rd vs 4th) in Qualifier 2. The winner of Q2 takes up the second spot in the final.
Both Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans will be taking the field tonight at the picturesque HPCA Stadium in Qualifier 1 from IPL 2026. While the teams rightly believe in performance on the field, they would know that statistics show winning tonight could make their path easier to what would be a second trophy for either of these teams. In the last 15 years, the team winning the first Qualifier 1 has gone on to win the final on 12 occasions. In simpler words, 80% of the time, the team winning Q1 goes on to win IPL as well.
2013, 2016, and 2017 stand as outliers where the teams winning Qualifier 1 went on to lose the final. The Mumbai Indians in 2013 and 2017 is the only team to win IPL after losing Qualifier 1. Meanwhile, in 2016, Sunrisers Hyderabad won the title despite not even playing Q1. The Orange Army, led by David Warner, defeated KKR (Eliminator), Gujarat Lions (Qualifier 2), and RCB (Final).
Royal Challengers Bengaluru start as slight favourites in tonight’s Qualifier 1 against the Gujarat Titans. Led by Rajat Patidar, RCB finished at the top of the points table and even won their recent match at this venue against the Punjab Kings. Meanwhile, Shubman Gill’s GT has not played a game at this venue in 2026. Thanks to past records and history, winning tonight could give Royal Challengers Bengaluru to win the tournament as well and defend their title.
RCB vs GT Match Prediction: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to win IPL 2026 Qualifier 1
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.
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