It was a matter of celebration for Shubman Gill after the toss was done and dusted ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 fixture between the Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana on Sunday. The Gujarat Titans skipper won the toss and elected to bowl on a hot afternoon in Lucknow. Immediately after his interview with the broadcaster, the cameras caught the India Test and ODI captain breaking into a small celebration.
Gill, the 26-year-old, was clearly ecstatic on winning the toss. It's worth noting that this was the first time that the right-handed batter won the toss in the 19th edition of the T20 competition.
Once his chat with Murali Karthik ended, the cameras caught Gill raising his hands and laughing. Even some of his teammates saw the funny side of things as the Gujarat Titans won the coin toss for the first time in the IPL 2026 season.
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For the match against Rishabh Pant's Lucknow Super Giants, Gujarat fielded an unchanged XI from their previous match against Delhi Capitals, which the Gill-led side won by one run.
{{/usCountry}}For the match against Rishabh Pant's Lucknow Super Giants, Gujarat fielded an unchanged XI from their previous match against Delhi Capitals, which the Gill-led side won by one run.
{{/usCountry}}“We'll field first. Two points in the last match gave us plenty of confidence. Looking to play better cricket and ensure the match doesn't go to the last over. We have had a tremendous time; consistency is important in a long tournament such as the IPL. After 14 matches, the most consistent team will win the tournament. Same team for us today,” said Gill.
Just like Gujarat, Lucknow also fielded an unchanged XI from their previous fixture against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
“But at the same time, in the last match we played, we talked about intent on the field. We always talk about that as a team, and that was great to see when we were on the field, we were putting bodies on the line. We are playing with the same team,” said Pant.
Recent record
Both Gujarat and Lucknow entered the contest against each other on the back of wins. Gujarat Titans got the better of Delhi Capitals, while Lucknow outclassed KKR owing to a match-winning blitz by Mukul Choudhary.
Lucknow have won two matches in the IPL 2026 season so far, while Gujarat has won one.
Here are the playing XIs
Lucknow Super Giants: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Ayush Badoni, Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Mukul Choudhary, Mohammed Shami, Avesh Khan, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Prince Yadav
Gujarat Titans: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Ashok Sharma, Prasidh Krishna,