There was a bit of controversy ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 Qualifier 2 between the Gujarat Titans and the Rajasthan Royals in Mullanpur on Friday. The toss had to be repeated twice after the match referee, Prakash Bhatt, didn’t hear Riyan Parag‘s call the first time. When the toss was conducted for the first time, the Royals called heads, and the coin landed tails, giving Shubman Gill and the Gujarat Titans the win. However, the coin had to be flipped again because the referee didn’t hear what Parag called.
On the second attempt, there was a loud call of heads from Parag and this time around, Bhatt heard it. The coin came down heads, and the Rajasthan Royals won the toss and opted to bat first.
Gill wanted to do the same, and hence his frustration wasn’t surprising considering he had won the toss on the first attempt and the act had to be repeated only because the referee didn’t hear the call.
“We would have batted first as well. 40 overs of play have already been on the wicket, and we didn’t think it’s gonna change much, but unfortunately, I don’t think the referee heard the call from Riyan,” said Gill after losing the toss.
This was not the first time that the toss had to be done twice. The same happened 15 years ago during the 2011 World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka. There was an immense crowd noise at the Wankhede Stadium for the summit clash, making it impossible for the match referee and India captain MS Dhoni to hear Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara’s call.
Gll discusses with Ashish Nehra
Once the toss was over, the cameras captured Gill having an animated conversation with Gujarat Titans head coach Ashish Nehra. The GT captain didn’t look too pleased and sported an angry look. However, the former India captain calmed his skipper’s nerves, and Gill walked away.
At the toss, Parag said that he always wanted to bat first, considering the bowling attack the Royals have. “Pretty much the same wicket as the last game. I just feel, at the back end, that it slows down a little bit. And I’ve got more bowlers who use the slower ball. So I feel just trying to extract that.”
“I feel everyone’s up for it, everyone wants to win. And the messaging is clear, we play a good 40 overs of cricket. Whoever plays better cricket, they win. Support staff has been incredible about injuries, recoveries and all of those things. But now it’s game time. It doesn’t matter who has injuries or not. We’re going to give it our all,” he added.
For Qualifier 2, the Royals didn’t make any change to their playing 12 while Gujarat Titans made one change, bringing Sai Kishore back into the lineup.
