MI Bowl First vs KKR in IPL 2026 Opener at Fortress Wankhede

Mumbai Indians step into the new season with an ambition to clinch a sixth IPL crown and bring an end to a title drought that has lingered since 2020. Led by Hardik Pandya for a third successive campaign, the five-time champions will be keen to kick the 2026 season off with a win.

Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders, led by Ajinkya Rahane, will be desperate for a revival after an underwhelming 2025 campaign, where the defending champions slumped to an eighth-place finish, securing just five victories from 14 league outings.

Speaking at the toss, Hardik Pandya said MI chose to bowl first as the pitch looks green and promising. He emphasised confidence playing at their home ground with strong crowd support.

"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 bowlers and 5 batters," Pandya said at the MI vs DC toss.

MI vs KKR playing 11s:

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

Kolkata Knight Riders Impact subs: Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Kartik Tyagi, Saurabh Dubey, Tejasvi Dahiya

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

Mumbai Indians Impact subs: Suryakumar Yadav, Corbin Bosch, Robin Minz, Raj Bawa, Ashwani Kumar.

- ANI