Tom Moody points out Gujarat Titans’ bowling weakness after RCB hammering in IPL 2026 Qualifier 1

Lucknow Super Giants’ (LSG) Global Director of Cricket, Tom Moody, shared his assessment of Gujarat Titans’ (GT) bowling attack after their disappointing outing against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026.

RCB’s top-order batters came out aggressively against Gujarat’s pace spearheads Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj on Tuesday, putting the bowlers under immense pressure from the very beginning. The experienced fast-bowling duo, known for their hard-length bowling and ability to exploit movement off the surface, failed to make an impact on the flat Dharamsala pitch.

Speaking after the match, Moody explained that Gujarat’s bowling attack becomes predictable when there is no assistance from the pitch.

“When there’s zero movement in the surface, that’s when they’re vulnerable, because they don’t have the real extreme change-ups, you know, of pace and variety,” Tom Moody said on ESPNcricinfo TimeOut.

Moody compared Gujarat Titans’ situation to Sunrisers Hyderabad, stating that just like SRH’s batting struggles on difficult surfaces, GT’s bowling unit finds it hard to dominate on flat wickets.

“They do become predictable for that. It’s a bit like Sunrisers [Hyderabad]. As soon as Sunrisers are put on a surface that’s doing a bit, that batting line-up really struggles. So it’s the complete opposite. You get the ball just nipping or swinging a little bit, and Siraj and Rabada - all the very best to you, because you’re going to have a tough examination,” he continued.

However, Moody felt the flat Dharamsala wicket exposed Gujarat’s lack of variety in bowling, especially in terms of slower deliveries and deceptive pace variations.

“This is a very, very flat surface. And we saw that in the powerplay. And they don’t have the answers, they don’t have the huge change-ups of pace, the deception, they don’t have the [Lungi] Ngidi slower ball or something [making the batters] go reaching for it.”

He added that while GT’s bowlers do possess variations, those are not their primary strengths. Instead, their real weapon lies in using favourable conditions to create pressure through accuracy and movement.

“They’ve got them, but they’re not their trump card. Their trump card is when it’s doing a bit and they can hit that hard length and create issues both on inside and on the outside of the bat,” he concluded.

Gujarat Titans will now play the qualifier 2 against the winner between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on May 29 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh PCA Stadium, Mullanpur.