Gill set for return as winless Gujarat Titans visit unbeaten Delhi Capitals
Gujarat Titans will arrive in the capital on Wednesday with a familiar face restored to the dressing room and a familiar problem still unsolved. Shubman Gill, who sat out last weekend's six-run defeat to Rajasthan Royals with a back spasm, is expected to return for the trip to face Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Assistant coach Parthiv Patel said after the loss in Ahmedabad that the captain's issue did not look serious, and the early indications from the camp are that he will be available for selection. Rashid Khan stood in for Gill last time out, but GT will be glad to have their first-choice opener and skipper back at the top of the order.
A team still searching for its first win
Two matches, two defeats. That is the unwelcome story of Gujarat's start to IPL 2026. They were beaten by Punjab Kings in their opener at New Chandigarh and then fell six runs short while chasing 211 against Rajasthan in Ahmedabad, despite a 73 from Sai Sudharsan. The bowling has been workmanlike, the batting has not finished the job, and the middle order built around Rahul Tewatia, Glenn Phillips and Washington Sundar has yet to produce the contributions GT need from it.
Sit them in the bottom half of the table on zero points and the pressure on Wednesday becomes obvious. Three losses in a row in this format is the kind of slide that takes weeks to reverse.
Delhi quietly building momentum
Delhi Capitals walk in with the opposite mood. Two wins from two, four points and a healthy net run rate, and a young batter who refuses to stop scoring. Sameer Rizvi has racked up 160 runs in his first two innings of the season, including 90 off 51 balls against Mumbai Indians, and currently sits on top of the Orange Cap standings.
What has impressed about DC has been the ability of the lower middle order to bail the innings out. KL Rahul, Pathum Nissanka and Nitish Rana have not yet scored heavily, and the team has not needed them to. If the senior names start firing alongside Rizvi, this is a side that could climb above the early-season noise pretty quickly.
Conditions and the toss
The Arun Jaitley Stadium has been a chasing ground in IPL 2026, with sides batting second winning the bulk of the T20s played there in the season so far. That should hand the toss-winning captain an obvious choice, and a yellow weather alert for Delhi only adds to the case for fielding first if the dew arrives.
For Gujarat, getting Gill back is the morale boost they needed. Whether it is enough to prise open a Delhi side that has done very little wrong is another question entirely.
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