IPL 2026: Shubman Gill’s fiery knock sets tone after Hazlewood over

Shubman Gill's 24-run over against Hazlewood (joint most expensive in career) shifts momentum in GT's favor

Gujarat Titans skipper Shubman Gill sent a huge statement to Josh Hazlewood in their IPL 2026 encounter at Narendra Modi Stadium as he brutally smashed the pacer for the second joint most expensive over in his T20 career which completely shifted the momentum for GT in the run-chase making RCB feel the heat early in their chase.

Hazlewood who had done quite well for them in the previous match did not enjoy a good evening on Tuesday night as he bowled the first over of the inning where he conceded 24 runs in the first over itself which is the second time he had ever conceded 24 runs in one over after 2014. He smashed two fours for his boundary. Two massive sixes followed by one more boundary gave Gill the second highest runs conceded by a bowler in one over of the IPL as equaled his record and also Harshal Patel's record for that matter too.

Gill's blistering attack puts RCB on back foot immediately

Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill, with his approach from the very first ball against Josh Hazlewood set the tone for his team. A six to a boundary straight to the deep mid-wicket and a boundary past the bowler pushed the pacer to a difficult position and Gill finished the over with two straight sixes which are one of the longest of the league so far.

Hazlewood's 24-run over equalled his career best against England in Hobart (2014) and then he went on to do the same against Punjab Kings in 2022 for RCB in Mumbai and on Tuesday night he once again went on to equal his personal best. Despite taking no wickets he conceded a lot of runs.

Most Runs Conceded by Josh Hazlewood in an Over in T20s:

• 24 (Australia) vs England, Hobart, 2014
• 24 (RCB) vs PBKS, Mumbai (Brabourne), 2022
• 24 (RCB) vs GT, Ahmedabad, 2026*

Hazlewood came back strong to end with 0-56 off his 4 overs. His new ball partner Bhuvneshwar Kumar though, bowled an excellent spell and took the important wickets of Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler on his way to a 3-28 spell.

Dismal showing from RCB with the bat

Earlier in the game the Royal Challengers Bengaluru failed to make any impact with their batting as a rapid start from the openers ended quickly and within the powerplay they were struggling. Devdutt Padikkal's quickfire 40 from 24 balls was the highest individual score while captain Rajat Patidar could only manage 19 runs. With the team comfortably sitting at 79-2 after 8 overs, RCB fell like nine pins and were all out for just 155 in 19.2 overs with Arshad Khan (3-22), Jason Holder (2-33) and Rashid Khan (2-35) sharing the wickets among themselves.

Overall, it was Shubman Gill's fearlessness against Josh Hazlewood that put RCB on back foot from where they never seemed to recover.