IPL 2026: Is Phil Salt playing in RCB vs GT Final?

Phil Salt was seen getting out of the team bus and entering the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, for the grand finale of the IPL 2026 between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Gujarat Titans (GT) on Sunday, May 31. However, fans are wondering whether the star RCB opener has recovered from his thumb injury to play in the all-important match for the defending champions.

RCB vs GT: Toss Update

Rajat Patidar gave the coin a flip, and it landed in his favour after the GT skipper called it incorrectly. RCB opted to bowl first and wanted to chase on a wicket that he felt would get better to bat on as the game progressed.

RCB vs GT: Salt is okay but benched!

Meanwhile, it must be noted that Phil Salt is fit to play, but RCB opted to not hinder their playing combination with the winning momentum on their back. As a result, Venkatesh Iyer will continue to be seen opening alongside Virat Kohli for one last time in 2026, as the Bengaluru-based franchise hopes to defend the title and become only the third team in IPL history to do so after Chennai and Mumbai.

RCB vs GT: What did the captains say?

Rajat Patidar, RCB captain,

"We'll bowl first. It's a pretty good wicket. Don't think it'll change much. Lot of memories, last year. We have to do our best to win this match. It's important to be in the present. Let's control the controllables. Always love to play at this stadium. Same team."

Shubman Gill, GT captain,

"We would have batted first. Typical wicket, third match we are playing here. There could be some movement for the fast bowlers in the first three overs. One of the biggest stadiums in the world. We've got one change. Arshad (Khan) comes in for Sai (Kishore)."

RCB vs GT: Playing XIs

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (C), Jitesh Sharma (WK), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Salam Dar

Impact Substitutes: Venkatesh Iyer, Kanishk Chohan, Swapnil Singh, Abhinandan Singh, Jordan Cox

Gujarat Titans

B Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (C), Jos Buttler (WK), Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Arshad Khan

Impact Substitutes: Prasidh Krishna, Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Kumar Kushagra, Sai Kishore