IPL 2026, MI vs KKR: Today Mumbai Eye ‘First Win’ After 14 Years, Here’s How…

Mumbai vs Kolkata at Wankhede
Mumbai vs Kolkata at Wankhede

Mumbai: At the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Indians (MI) will play their first match of the 19th IPL season today (from 7:00 PM) against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). By winning this clash, Mumbai will look to restart a long-lost trend of winning their opening match of the season after a gap of 14 years.

Mumbai’s last opening win came in 2012

Mumbai last won their opening match of an IPL season in 2012, when they defeated Chennai by eight wickets. However, in 2013 they lost their first game against Bangalore by two runs, and since then they have not managed to win their season opener.

Mumbai dominate at Wankhede

Kolkata will leave no stone unturned to continue Mumbai’s losing streak in opening games, but looking at Mumbai’s outstanding record against Kolkata at Wankhede, Hardik Pandya and his team appear capable of starting with a win.

Head-to-head record

A total of 12 matches have been played between the two teams at Wankhede, with Mumbai winning 10 and Kolkata just 2. Overall, in 35 matches between them, Mumbai have won 24 while Kolkata have won 11.

Focus on player contributions

Kolkata’s rise in recent years has been significantly supported by pacers Akash Deep, Mustafizur Rahman, and Matheesha Pathirana. However, none of them are currently in the squad. Akash Deep is ruled out due to injury, Mustafizur has been released, and Pathirana is not fully fit yet.

In batting, Kolkata still seems undecided about whether to open with Tim Seifert or Finn Allen. It will also be important to see at which position captain Ajinkya Rahane bats.

Bumrah likely To play

Mumbai will be without Will Jacks and Mitchell Santner for this match as both have not yet joined the squad. There were doubts over Jasprit Bumrah’s fitness, but reports suggest he is likely to play.
The bowling is expected to start with Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar. Mumbai also have Ashwani Kumar as a fourth pacer. For spin, AM Ghazanfar is currently their only regular option.

Two T20 champion leaders: Rohit or Suryakumar to shine?

In batting, all eyes will be on Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock (or Ryan Rickelton), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, and Sherfane Rutherford.

Probable Playing XIs


Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (captain), Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock/Ryan Rickelton (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Sherfane Rutherford, Naman Dhir, Deepak Chahar, AM Ghazanfar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashwani Kumar/Trent Boult.


Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Tim Seifert/Finn Allen (wk), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Cameron Green, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy/Ramandeep Singh, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy, Blessing Muzarabani, Umran Malik/Kartik Tyagi.

What will the Wankhede pitch be like?

The Wankhede pitch generally favors batters more than bowlers. In the last 20 T20 matches here, teams winning the toss have preferred to chase, although only nine have succeeded. A score of around 200 while batting first significantly increases the chances of winning. The weather is expected to be hot and humid.

RCB win by six wickets on Saturday

On Saturday at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Sunrisers Hyderabad scored 201/9 in 20 overs, but defending champions Royal Challengers Bangalore chased it down with 203/4 in 15.4 overs to win by six wickets. Ishan Kishan scored 80 off 38 balls for Hyderabad, but Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 69 off 38 balls overshadowed his effort.

Also Read: Virat Kohli Flying Kiss To Anushka Sharma Goes Viral After RCB’s IPL 2026 Win

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