India, May 25 -- The business end of the IPL brings a certain heaviness: teams near their goal, failures can be defining and success has a special ring to it. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) versus Gujarat Titans (GT) will be excited ahead of the first Qualifier but they'll also feel the tension.

Even though Tuesday's RCB versus Gujarat Titans faceoff isn't as critical as a knockout round - the loser gets another shot in Qualifier 2 - these are the two best teams in the tournament, playing for the final. Only twice before in the current playoff structure have teams outside the top 2 on the points table lifted the trophy.

The two sides come with different playing modules, yet similar franchise philosophies, where the owners let the coa...