GT boast the best seam attack of the tournament, leading the charts for wickets (79), average (22.93), strike rate (14.9), economy rate (9.18) and dot-ball percentage (43.6). Four GT seamers feature among the top 17 wicket-takers this season, while RCB's pacers sit third on the wickets tally with 66 scalps at an average of 27.37 and an economy rate of 9.82.
"I think at the end of the day, you see teams putting runs on the board, but in the end you have to have a solid bowling unit and that's what is there. But the other thing which is very important if you see in both the sides, the consistency as far as the bowling unit is concerned, it's very much there.
"And that self-belief in the bowlers and the belief by the captain or the management in those bowlers or bowling unit, you hardly see any change in both the sides and I think that's what pays," said Dahiya at the pre-match press conference on Monday (May 25).
RCB's pace combination of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood has been quite effective, with the duo having picked up 36 wickets between them so far in the competition. GT, meanwhile, have found similar success through the complementary styles of Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada, who have picked up 41 wickets combined.
Dahiya pointed out to the understanding and chemistry between fast-bowling partners as a key differentiator in a long tournament.
"The kind of character that he (Siraj) is, channelizing all his energy towards one goal. I think this is very important and he's got a very able partner on the other end as well. The chemistry between the two (Siraj and Rabada) is phenomenal, not only on the field, but off the field as well. I think they understand each other, not only mentally, I think skill wise as well. They understand the game very well, how the game is going and what I need to do, how do I need to finish my overs to help my partner.
"I think this is what stands out. Normally when you talk about partnership, it mostly goes with batting, but I think they have a very good partnership and a lot of credit needs to be given to Ashish Nehra, the way he handles both of them. Different characters, come from different environment, come from different team environments when I say that. Different pressures when they play for their different international sides, but both of them are top class bowlers and I think they do really, really well."
The pace battle could once again define proceedings in Dharamsala, where Bhuvneshwar and Rabada head into the contest with 24 wickets each this season, while Siraj is eighth on the list with 17 wickets. Numbers at the venue underline the challenge for slower bowlers. Since 2023, pacers have picked up 78 wickets in Dharamsala compared to just 22 for spinners, although the latter have a slightly better economy rate of 9.47 against pacers' 10.23. The average first-innings total at the venue in this period stands at 210, rising to 216 in winning causes.
Yet, despite the venue heavily favouring seamers in recent seasons, Dahiya felt experienced spinners on both sides could still influence the contest.
"I think it's for everyone to see. It's not only us. Since you start playing IPL games in Dharamsala or whatever games that we have seen playing here, high altitude, we know the number of sixes are much more here than any other ground. There are some in Bangalore as well...I think it all comes down to dynamics, what sort of a surface you get here. But you are absolutely right (to a question on spinners), there's not much role to play for spinners, but they do come in.
"I think that's what the quality of spin in both the sides. The spinners that you have in both the sides are two very mature spinners in both the teams and I think they will play their part irrespective of what the surface is."
Among the few spinners to thrive this season has been Rashid Khan. After managing only 10 wickets in 247 skyexchange 2024 and nine in IPL 2025, Rashid has bounced back strongly with 19 wickets this season and is the only spinner in the top 10 wicket-takers list.
"Let's go back and talk about those two seasons. It's not easy for a spinner, especially the way you bowl and he has gone through a couple of surgeries as well and that's the reason why you take a season or two and the amount of cricket he ends up playing, it's going to show in his performance somewhere down the line as well," said Dahiya about Rashid.
"But this season, the kind of space that he is in from day one, the way he has been bowling in the nets, sometimes what happens is you see the result. The process is the nets, how you bat, how you bowl, how you feel in the nets and I think he has been top class there quite a bit. Doing a lot of single wicket bowling as well and having a lot of chat with the batters to try and understand how this game works, what is there that I am lacking and I think that's a trait of a good cricketer where he wants to improve even being at the top shelf of his play or maybe like we just mentioned, one of the best in this format.
"But that hunger of getting better is very visible in this season, and that's why he is more hungry, he wants to contribute to the side where he has been valued as a very, very important player and I think this is what the GT setup is all about. They looked after him when he was not up to his mark because his standards are very high and I think he is giving GT management what you ask him to do," Dahiya said.
