AHMEDABAD: Only a few days ago, Gujarat Titans felt the full force of Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s all-round might in their Indian Premier League Qualifier 1 playoff game. But that was in Dharamsala, and if there is one venue where the Shubman Gill-led side would like to play in a high-stakes, winner-takes-all match, it is Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.Support staff sweeps the stands ahead of the IPL final between RCB and GT in Ahmedabad on Sunday. (PTI)It sets the stage for a dream final on Sunday evening – defending champions RCB versus hosts GT, the two form sides of the tournament and the top two finishers of the league table.Their 92-run victory in Dharamsala means RCB outplayed and out thought Titans. However, expect the Ashish Nehra-coached side to have learnt their lessons and come up with a fitting response in their second contest in six days.Taking on GT on home turf presents an entirely different challenge. They have turned the Motera stadium into a fortress. GT won five of their seven league games in Ahmedabad, including a four-wicket win over RCB. Their maiden IPL title in 2022 also came there. Overall, they have won 15 of their 22 matches in Ahmedabad.What adds value to a GT-RCB game is that in this T20 era of power-hitting and defensive bowling, both sides focus on winning by sticking to orthodox cricket. GT openers Gill and Sai Sudharsan have taken down totals playing proper cricketing shots while RCB’s top order of Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal and Rajat Patidar too have shone playing in classical style.In bowling too, they adopt a similar approach. Tied atop the league table (18), they have got results through attacking new-ball pace bowling – Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood for RCB and Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj for GT.Captains’ contestThe final will be filled with fascinating duels, starting with that between two astute leaders. Both Patidar and Gill have been outstanding as captains and batters.Gill is gunning for his first IPL title as captain while Patidar, if he leads RCB to victory, will emulate MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma, the only captains to win back-to-back IPL titles.Round One in the playoffs went to Patidar, who smashed an unbeaten 93 off 33 balls in Qualifier 1. Gill will be waiting to get even at GT’s den.The GT skipper enjoys batting in Ahmedabad, having scored 1,347 runs. He has been in exceptional form this season with 722 runs to be No.2 among the top run-getters. Gill’s brilliance (104 off 53 balls) in Qualifier 2 made it a cakewalk for GT against Rajasthan Royals on Friday.His right-left combination with Sai Sudharsan works beautifully. In a phenomenal season, they are the first opening pair in IPL history to score 700-plus runs each in a single edition.Against RCB they got out early, but bounced back impressively against the RR pace attack led by the lethal Jofra Archer with a partnership of 167 (83 balls).How they fare against the RCB new-ball bowlers could prove the decisive period of play. Skipper Patidar will be banking on Bhuvneshwar to deliver in the all-important game. It will be a mouth-watering contest – Bhuvi looking to expose the chinks in Gill’s and Sai’s largely risk-free batting.For RCB’s chances, it is important at least one of Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood provide early breakthroughs. If both get targeted, RCB will come under pressure. Rasikh Dar has backed his senior pros very well. The crafty pacer’s confidence will be high after a fine show in the Eliminator against GT where he picked two important wickets.RCB’S DEPTHBetween the sides, batting depth is where RCB have a clear edge. Apart from their leading run-getters, Kohli (600) and Patidar (486), their batting unit features Venkatesh Iyer and Devdutt Padikkal in the top-order, while Tim David, Jitesh Sharma and Romario Shepherd provide the firepower in the latter stages of the innings.As seen in their effortless chase of 214 on Friday, to bring Gill and Sudharsan out of their comfort zone, RCB will need to repeat their out of the world batting show of Dharamsala where they amassed 254/5.GT’s strategy has been simple: if they bat first, put 210-plus runs on board and let their excellent bowling attack take over. The conditions in Ahmedabad offer some help for pacers and GT’s Rabada and Siraj have exploited it consistently by generating movement mixed with hard lengths. Rabada has picked 11 wickets and Siraj 10 at their home ground.Most of all, it’s a game that will test the nerves of the players.GT also have the challenge of recovering after playing on Friday. Gill said they will approach the game like any other.“If you don’t play the occasion, it brings the best out of us,” said Gill. “The feeling is definitely good, rest and recover (is important), and play (the final like) another match of cricket.”