It's not done just yet. Gujarat Titans still have to wait to have 'Q' written in front of their names in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 edition. The Shubman Gill-led side now needs to win their final league stage match against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to seal their playoff berth. On Saturday, the Gujarat Titans went down against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 29 runs at the Eden Gardens, and as a result, the hosts kept their hopes alive of sneaking into the top four.
Gujarat has itself to blame as the visitors dropped four catches, and Finn Allen was dropped twice; he punished the Titans by smashing 93 runs off just 35 balls, including 10 sixes. After the Gujarat Titans went down against KKR, skipper Shubman Gill called a spade a spade, as he refused to hide behind excuses.
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Gill didn't mince his words, attributing the loss to the catches dropped by his team during KKR's batting innings.
"Looking at the wicket, we thought 200, 210 was a par score, but I think we dropped too many catches and, you know, when you drop three, four catches in a game, it's never easy for the bowlers.
{{/usCountry}}"Looking at the wicket, we thought 200, 210 was a par score, but I think we dropped too many catches and, you know, when you drop three, four catches in a game, it's never easy for the bowlers.
{{/usCountry}}“Our fielding could have been a lot better. We set a certain standard, and dropping three sitters in a game like this, I didn't think we deserved to win this one,” he added.
Gill's knock goes in vain
In the match against the Gujarat Titans, KKR posted 247/2 in 20 overs as Finn Allen, Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Cameron Green all hit half-centuries. Gill and Jos Buttler tried their best in chasing the total down as they played knocks of 85 and 57 respectively, but in the end, it wasn't meant to be.
“The pitch was good. The odd ones, it was stopping and sticking, but I felt we batted well to get to the score that we did,” said Gill.
Gujarat Titans will next take on the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday, May 21, and a win is required to seal the playoff berth. A loss would leave the Titans relying on other results going their way.
The Titans are currently in the second spot in the IPL 2026 points table with 16 points from 13 matches.
When asked about the game against CSK, Gill said, “Rest and recover for the next couple of days and see how the wicket is and plan accordingly.”