New Delhimissed the Mumbai Indians' 2026 season opener against the Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday, March 29 at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. Many anticipated that the South African wicketkeeper would play in the IPL 2026 right away after returning with the MI, but he will have to warm the bench for the first match.
De Kock was left out because MI chose Ryan Rickleton, a fellow countryman, for the KKR match. Since there is only one spot available at the top of the order and both players play comparable roles, the MI management appears to have chosen Rickelton for the time being.
MI chooses to bowl after Hardik Pandya wins the toss.The captain of the Mumbai Indians chose to bowl first after winning the toss. Hardik decided to bowl because of the greenery on the pitch, he reasoned. "We're going to bowl. It's a nice track that seems greener than it was. See how it plays out. We want to play a good game, the crowd is behind us, and this is our stronghold. We have a mix of youth and experience, and we started a few weeks ago. Rohit, Surya, - so there's no shortage of captains; I'm just excited to go out there and perform. We're going with 6 bowlers and 5 batters," Hardik said at the toss.
In the meantime, the captain of KKR also desired to bowl first. "We wanted to bowl, but we had never seen so much grass at Wankhede." There have been a few camps in Mumbai and Kolkata, and preparations have gone well. Recognize that MI is a winning team, and we are excited to play them. Don't dwell on the past; just live in the present. Due to a few injuries, we will have five bowlers and six batters. Four overseas players - Cameron Green, Finn Allen, and Blessing Muzarabani," Rahane said at the toss.
In the meantime, the captain of KKR also desired to bowl first. "We wanted to bowl, but we had never seen so much grass at Wankhede." There have been a few camps in Mumbai and Kolkata, and preparations have gone well. Recognize that MI is a winning team, and we are excited to play them. Don't dwell on the past; just live in the present. Due to a few injuries, we will have five bowlers and six batters. "Finn Allen, Blessing Muzarabani, and Cameron Green are four foreign players," Rahane declared during the toss.
Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (w), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Sherfane Rutherford, Naman Dhir, Shardul Thakur, Mayank Markande, AM Ghazanfar, and others make up the Mumbai Indians' starting lineup.
Impact of MI and KKR on subs:
Knight Riders of Kolkata Impact substitutes: Tejasvi Dahiya, Saurabh Dubey, Kartik Tyagi, and Rovman Powell
Suryakumar Yadav, Corbin Bosch, Robin Minz, Raj Bawa, and Ashwani Kumar are the Mumbai Indians' impact substitutes.