IPL 2026: Why is Shubman Gill not playing today’s match against Rajasthan Royals?

Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Shubman Gill is unavailable for their second fixture of the Indian Premier League 2026 (IPL 2026) against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Saturday, April 4 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. In his place, all-rounder Rashid Khan filled in as captain and also gave an update on Gill’s fitness at the toss.

Khan revealed that Gill is suffering from muscle spasm in his neck, which ruled him out of the fixture. The star batter faced a similar issue during the first Test against South Africa in 2025 in Kolkata.

In his place, Kumar Kushagra, a wicketkeeper batter from Jharkhand, is all set to make his IPL debut as Rajasthan Royals (RR) won the toss and opted to bat first.

"Well, we wanted to bowl first as well. Fresh wicket and I feel like there will be some help for the bowlers initially, but we are quite happy with the toss so far. Gill has got bit of a muscle spasm, hopefully he will be back soon. KK (Kumar Kushagra) is playing his first game and look forward to see him play," said Rashid Khan at the toss.

Gujarat Titans lost their first fixture of the IPL 2026 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) by three wickets. On the other hand, Rajasthan hammered Chennai Super Kings by 8 wickets in their opening encounter. 

Having returned to their home ground, GT will hope for a fresh start to secure their first points of the season. 

Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Kumar Kushagra, Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler(w), Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan(c), Kagiso Rabada, Ashok Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

Gujarat Titans Impact subs: Shahrukh Khan, Jason Holder, Manav Suthar, Anuj Rawat, Jayant Yadav

Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel(w), Riyan Parag(c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma

Rajasthan Royals Impact subs: Ravi Bishnoi, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Shubham Dubey, Brijesh Sharma, Ravi Singh