Mumbai, March 29 Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and decided to bowl first against Kolkata Knight Riders in their opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
Mumbai gained a boost on the eve of the match as pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah rejoined the squad after a brief visit to the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru for a consultation. Bumrah was among the first to warm up.
Both Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton took on the role of wicketkeeper for practice, but in the end, the younger South African left-handed batter/wicketkeeper was given the nod ahead of his senior teammate.
Afghanistan mystery spinner AM Ghazanfar was handed his debut cap before the MI squad gathered, which included the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. Sherfane Rutherford, who received his MI cap from compatriot and team legend Kieron Pollard, is making his debut alongside Shardul Thakur.
Cameron Green, the most expensive overseas player ever after KKR picked him for INR 25.20 crore, will also be playing his first match for KKR along with Finn Allen and Blessing Muzarabani, the Zimbabwe pacer who made a last-minute switch from the Pakistan Super League to the IPL.
Pandya said that the pitch looks greener than usual, and therefore they want to have the first use of the pitch.
"It looks like a good pitch. The pitch is greener than we're used to, so I just want to see how it plays. This is our home ground, and the entire crowd is here to support us, so we want to play good cricket and entertain them. Jassi will be there," he said.
KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane was also surprised by the amount of grass on the pitch and said they would have also bowled first.
Playing XIs:
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (capt), Sherfane Rutherford, Naman Dhir, Shardul Thakur, Mayank Markande, AM Ghazanfar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult
Kolkata Knight Riders: Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy, Blessing Muzarabani