NEW DELHI: The winner of Qualifier 1 – be it defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru or Gujarat Titans – will directly book a place in the IPL 2026 final. The summit clash will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. During the pre-Qualifier 1 press conference, RCB captain Rajat Patidar was asked about the defending champions potentially missing out on playing the final at their home ground, the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, if they qualify for the title clash.The BCCI shifted the IPL 2026 final to Ahmedabad citing operational reasons. “It’s not in my control. I think BCCI has to decide where the final is going to be. This is a historic site, so wherever the final is going to be, that’s where it is going to be. We are focused on reaching the final,” Patidar told reporters.RCB will carry the confidence of defending champions into Qualifier 1 when they take on Gujarat Titans at the scenic HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Tuesday.The winner will advance directly to the final in Ahmedabad on Sunday, while the losing side will get another opportunity through Qualifier 2. The loser of Qualifier 1 will face the winner of the Eliminator between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals.Both RCB and GT finished the league stage on 18 points from 14 matches, with RCB securing the top spot because of a superior net run rate after a consistently strong campaign.Patidar also admitted that bowlers are finding it increasingly difficult to survive in an IPL season dominated by 200-plus totals. The RCB skipper acknowledged that even scores of 220-250 are no longer safe and said the conditions have made life tougher, especially for pacers.“I feel it is more challenging for the bowlers. The wickets are batting friendly, boundaries are smaller and there is dew as well. Especially for fast bowlers, even a small mistake goes for six,” Patidar said during the pre-match media interaction.“But whatever wicket or conditions we get, we just try to do our best on that. It is not in my hands to decide how the wickets should be,” he added.“Both teams have done pretty well throughout the season. On the given day, whichever team executes its plans better and stays calm under pressure, is going to win,” he said.SQUADS:Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Rajat Patidar (captain), Virat Kohli, Tim David, Jacob Bethell, Romario Shepherd, Josh Hazlewood, Nuwan Thushara, Devdutt Padikkal, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Krunal Pandya, Rasikh Dar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jordan Cox, Suyash Sharma, Venkatesh lyer, Swapnil Singh, Jacob Duffy, Kanishk Chouhan, Abhinandan Singh, Mangesh Yadav, Phil Salt, Satvik Deswal, Vicky Ostwal, Vihaan Malhotra.Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Kumar Kushagra, Glenn Phillips, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kagiso Rabada, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Sharma, Jason Holder, Tom Banton, Luke Wood, Sai Sudharsan, Rahul Tewatia, Arshad Khan, Anuj Rawat, Kulwant Khejroliya, Gurnoor Brar, M Shahrukh Khan
