The 46th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 will feature Gujarat Titans facing off against Punjab Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Gujarat Titans enter this fixture on the back of two consecutive victories including an emphatic win against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. They seem to be hitting their strides at the right time. Punjab Kings are currently at the top of the table although they lost their first match of the season. It promises to be a vital game in the tight league stage. GT have seen an improvement in their performances owing to a better balance in their side and an acquisition like Jason Holder who has provided stability with both bat and ball. The top-order has carried most of the burden as has been the trend so far. However, their middle order is not consistently firing yet with the likes of Shahrukh Khan and Washington Sundar still yet to impose themselves. However, the presence of finishers like Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan at the back end for GT have masked the underlying problem. Meanwhile, the Punjab Kings will need to find a way to counter their bowling. After the last match, their bowling struggled at key moments and they had to pay the price. The likes of Arshdeep Singh, Marco Jansen and Lockie Ferguson will have to be much more accurate to go up against a fired up GT batting order. The conditions in Ahmedabad are expected to produce a relatively balanced contest between bat and ball. The pitch being a black soil surface at the Narendra Modi Stadium could aid both batters and bowlers as opposed to the flat pitches from earlier in the season. 180-190 should be a decent total, considering the past results at this venue. Though chasing teams might have a slight advantage, an even contest is on the cards between these two units. At the toss, Gujarat have won and chose to bowl first. Here's what the captains said at the toss: Shubman Gill: "We're gonna bowl first. I think we have been chasing well in the past few games and our bowling has been top-notch, so we thought we'll continue with the momentum. (Middle-order performing in the last game) Yeah, definitely in the last match, we spoke about our middle-order finishing the game and I think our Rahul bhai, batting in the middle, it was magnificent [to] watch and him finishing the game was exactly what we talked about. (What do you make of pitch?) Yeah, I think initially to start with there's something in it for the bowlers, particularly on this kind of a wicket. So hopefully we'll also see how it pans out. (What mark would you give the GT so far this season?) I think it's all about, especially in a tournament like IPL, such a long tournament, it's all about peaking at the right time and I think we are doing that. And I still feel our best game is yet to come, so I hopefully it's gonna be this one. (No changes?) One change - Nishant Sandhu makes his debut." Shreyas Iyer: "It (the pitch) looks beautiful. Some grass on the wicket and probably would extract a little bit of bounce considering it's the black soil. Pretty much unusual, but yeah we have played on this wicket before, but it looks beautiful. (Do you tinker with your side for tonight?) Yes, X (Xavier) comes in and Vyshak comes in as well in the bowling side. But apart from that, I feel that it's not frustration, it's just that you have learning in every game. And it's an intense league, honestly speaking. We travel, we have to come up fresh for the next game. So it takes a lot of efforts in the practice session as well. It's just that we haven't been able to execute the way we were supposed to, but it's just another game right now and we will see to it that we put our best foot forward and execute to the best of our abilities." Also Read | Jitesh Sharma Clarifies ‘Unprofessional’ Remark on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Says Young IPL Star Should Enjoy His Age GT vs PBKS Playing XI Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Washington Sundar, Nishant Sindhu, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Arshad Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Manav Suthar GT Impact subs: Rahul Tewatia, Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Kulwant Khejroliya, Kumar Kushagra Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Priyansh Arya, Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (c), Marcus Stoinis, Suryansh Shedge, Nehal Wadhera, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal PBKS Impact subs: Harpreet Brar, Vishnu Vinod, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Musheer Khan, Mitchell Owen