Bengaluru: Friday’s IPL clash at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium brings together two polar opposite captains. Rajat Patidar, who had only limited leadership experience on the domestic circuit before being handed the RCB captain’s job last season, has become the defending champions’ most explosive batsman and a steady hand in the high-pressure campaign.Shubman Gill, in contrast, comes with a hefty leadership resume that includes India’s Test and ODI captaincy. But he has had a much less fluent season for Gujarat Titans, especially in the powerplay, even though his numbers still place him among the league’s leading run-scorers. As a team, Gujarat have been stumbling, having recently suffered a crushing 99-run defeat against Mumbai Indians.Go beyond limits with our YouTube channel. Subscribe now!Patidar’s rise has been one of the sharpest storylines of this season. Before being handed the RCB captaincy, his leadership experience was largely limited to Madhya Pradesh’s campaign in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.He has backed up his relative inexperience with fearless batting by dominating the middle overs over the past few seasons. Currently the team’s second-highest run-scorer with 230 runs in six matches (strike rate 212.96), Patidar has been RCB’s power-hitting spark this season.Gill, on the other hand, has had a more uneventful season. The 26-year-old has had to carry a heavy scoring load given the poor results around him this season. With a strike rate of 151.42, Gill is third in the run-scorers’ charts with 265 runs in five matches.

With three half-centuries to his name, Gill has faced a tough phase as GT captain, with the former champion going through inconsistent performances. This contradiction between the captains is at the heart of a competition in which both teams take the field despite defeats.RCB have looked sharp in the powerplay and death overs, with Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal and Patidar providing a strong top-end up the order and Tim David producing brilliant finishes. Meanwhile, GT had won three consecutive matches before their last match, but the batting order was exposed in the crushing defeat to Mumbai, which revealed their dependence on the top order.While RCB’s batting has been their biggest weapon, their bowling still looks a bit weak when forced to defend on home soil and the onus will once again be on Bhuvneshwar Kumar and spinner Krunal Pandya. They will also be hoping that their Australian fast bowler Josh Hazlewood returns after a day off against the Capitals.Meanwhile, GT’s pace attack remains a major strength, with Prasidh Krishna being their leading wicket-taker and the support unit around him bothering them, but their batting has been heavily dependent on Gill, Jos Buttler and Sai Sudarshan. This makes the mid-order a potential pressure point. On his home ground, Prasidh could check the RCB batsmen.History offers little to distinguish them. The head-to-head encounter is level at 3-3, while GT won the match here in 2025 by eight wickets.With RCB playing their last home league match in Bengaluru, the hosts won’t just want points: they will want to sign Utkarsh.