MI vs KKR Live Score, IPL 2026: KKR bat first as Hardik Pandya opts to bowl at Wankhede

As expected, Finn Allen is set to open with Ajinkya Rahane with Cameron Green at No 3. Sunil Narine has been demoted back to the lower order. Blessing Muzarabani makes his KKR debut with Angkrish Raghuvanshi set to keep wickets. 

Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi(w), Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Blessing Muzarabani

Impact Players: Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Kartik Tyagi, Saurabh Dubey, Tejasvi Dahiya

No Deepak Chahar for Mumbai Indians. Shardul Thakur plays in his place. Allah Ghazanfar makes his MI debut. Suryakumar Yadav will be Mumbai's Impact Player. MI have also gone with Ryan Rickleton instead of Quinton de Kock to open with Rohit Sharma. 

Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton(w), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Sherfane Rutherford, Naman Dhir, Shardul Thakur, Mayank Markande, AM Ghazanfar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah

Impact Players: Suryakumar Yadav, Corbin Bosch, Robin Minz, Raj Bawa, Ashwani Kumar

Ajinkya Rahane does not call it right. Hardik Pandya wins the toss and opts to bowl first.

Ajinkya Rahane and Hardik Pandya are walking towards the middle. We will have the toss soon.

Mumbai Indians' mentor Sachin Tendulkar is at the pre-match warm-up. Ryan Rickleton is taking throwdowns while Hardik Pandya is runnin in with some deliveries. 

Sachin Tendulkar at Wankhede Stadium, the icon of Mumbai Indians, wearing a special jersey.💙 #MIvsKKR pic.twitter.com/BtlqxdB9PV

— 𝐑𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐢𝐢⁴⁵ (@rushiii_12) March 29, 2026

Kolkata Knight Riders' pace bowling unit has gone for a toss. Harshit Rana and Akash Deep are ruled out of IPL 2026. Matheesha Pathirana is still not available. Their options are: Blessing Muzarabbani, Umran Malik and Navdeep Saini. KKR will pin their hopes on the two spinners: Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy.

Despite his best IPL season in 2025, Suryakumar Yadav hit a slump. He failed to score a single half-century in T20Is for India. While he returned to form in 2026, barring the match against the USA, he did not have a great T20 World Cup. IPL 2026 could be his time to hit the reset button. In IPL 2025, he scored 717 runs, including five fifties.

Since being dropped from captaincy, Rohit Sharma has had two 400+ runs seasons. His strike rate has also been almost identical. If Rohit can fire at the top with quick runs then MI will be in a better space with Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma and others. MI won't have Mitchell Santner and Will Jacks who could score some runs in the lower middle order. Hence, Rohit will have to take the responsibility.

After a regulation check-in at the BCCI CoE in Bengaluru, Jasprit Bumrah joined the Mumbai Indians camp just two days ago. But considering he played another key role in India's T20 World Cup title defence, Bumrah is fit and fine. 

In the two IPL seasons that Jasprit Bumrah has played since the introduction of the Impact Player, bowlers except him have conceded 9.49 rpo at Wankhede. Bumrah, meanwhile, has gone at - wait for it - 5.61. No other bowler has conceded fewer rpo at any venue since IPL 2024.

The pitch at Wankhede is usually a batter’s paradise. It’s flat with true bounce and pace that helps the ball come nicely onto the bat. The square boundaries are short (around 63-67m), while the straight boundary is a bit longer. However, despite that, chasing has not been easy. That the highest successful chase at this venue in IPL is just 213, which tells you how difficult it can get. Furthermore, Mumbai have never lost a game, defending 200+ total. Pacers might get a little help with the new ball, but as the game goes on, it generally becomes even better for batting. Most teams prefer to chase here if they win the toss.

These two sides have met 35 times in the IPL, and Mumbai Indians clearly lead the way with 24 wins to KKR’s 11. At the Wankhede, MI have been even more dominant, winning 10 out of 12 encounters. While KKR have looked more competitive in recent years, history still heavily favours the home team in this fixture.

The Wankhede Stadium won’t be an unknown venue for Kolkata Knight Riders. Their coach, Abhishek Nayar, and captain, Ajinkya Rahane, are both Mumbaikars. Angkrish Raghuvanshi is also a Mumbai lad, while Cameron Green made his IPL debut with MI. They have no dearth of experience of how the Wankhede pitch would play. 

But their primary challenge is their pace attack, which looks a little thin due to injuries. They're relying heavily on overseas stars like Finn Allen and Cameron Green, along with the spin wizardry of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy. Ajinkya Rahane’s men will be looking to catch MI cold and steal some early momentum.

It has been 14 years since Mumbai Indians won their opening game. The last time MI won their opening game, in 2012, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya did not even make their IPL debuts. Now, in Indian Premier League 2026, they have another shot at correcting that record. MI have a 24-11 record against Kolkata Knight Riders, and that would boost their confidence. 

With big names like Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, and a fully fit Jasprit Bumrah leading the attack, Mumbai have serious firepower. Quinton de Kock is also back and even though Mumbai will be without Mitchell Santner and Will Jacks for the game, they still have enough depth to win against Kolkata, who have a depleted bowling attack. But Hardik Pandya will need to get his tactics spot on as they face early pressure in front of their passionate fans.

Mumbai Indians' opening games

Season	Opponent	Result	Venue
2025	Chennai Super Kings	Lost by 4 wickets	Chennai
2024	Gujarat Titans	Lost by 6 runs	Ahmedabad
2023	Royal Challengers Bangalore	Lost by 8 wickets	Bengaluru
2022	Delhi Capitals	Lost by 4 wickets	Brabourne
2021	Royal Challengers Bangalore	Lost by 2 wickets	Chennai
2020	Chennai Super Kings	Lost by 5 wickets	Abu Dhabi
2019	Delhi Capitals	Lost by 37 runs	Wankhede
2018	Chennai Super Kings	Lost by 1 wicket	Wankhede
2017	Rising Pune Supergiant	Lost by 7 wickets	Pune
2016	Rising Pune Supergiant	Lost by 9 wickets	Wankhede
2015	Kolkata Knight Riders	Lost by 7 wickets	Eden Gardens
2014	Kolkata Knight Riders	Lost by 41 runs	Abu Dhabi
2013	Royal Challengers Bangalore	Lost by 2 runs	Bengaluru
2012	Chennai Super Kings	Won by 8 wickets	Chennai
2011	Delhi Daredevils	Won by 8 wickets	Delhi
2010	Rajasthan Royals	Won by 4 runs	Mumbai
2009	Chennai Super Kings	Won by 19 runs	Cape Town
2008	Royal Challengers Bangalore	Won by 5 wickets	Mumbai