No Suryakumar Yadav in MI XI as Hardik Pandya opts to bowl vs KKR
Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and chose to bowl against Kolkata Knight Riders at Wankhede Stadium, citing a greener pitch. Suryakumar Yadav is absent from the starting XI, expected as an Impact Player. MI aims to break their opening match losing streak since 2012, with debut caps for Ghazanfar and Rutherford.
Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl first against Kolkata Knight Riders in their Indian Premier League 2026 clash at the Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai Indians have opted to field on what appears to be a slightly greener surface than usual at the Wankhede. Notably, Suryakumar Yadav is not part of the starting XI and is expected to feature later as an Impact Player.
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi(w), Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Blessing Muzarabani Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton(w), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Sherfane Rutherford, Naman Dhir, Shardul Thakur, Mayank Markande, AM Ghazanfar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah Speaking at the toss, Pandya explained the decision to bowl first and expressed confidence in his squad. “We are going to bowl. Looks like a good track, it appears greener than it used to.
Let's see how it plays. This is our fortress, the crowd is behind us and we're looking to play a good game. We started a couple of weeks earlier, have plenty of experience and a mix of youth.
Rohit, Surya, Mitchell Santner - so there's no shortage of captains; I'm just excited to go out there and perform. We're going with 6 batters and 5 bowlers. ” On the other side, KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane admitted he would have preferred to bowl first as well, given the unusual grass cover on the pitch.