IPL 2026: Rohit, Pandya come in for MI as KKR elect to bowl in must-win clash
Kolkata, May 20
Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and elected to bowl against Mumbai Indians in the 65th match of the Indian Premier League 2026 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday.
With both captains suggesting the surface at the Wankhede had a bit of uncertainty around it after spending time under covers.
KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane admitted his side was in a must-win situation but stressed the importance of staying present rather than looking too far ahead. "Need to win two out of two, but staying in the moment is important," Rahane said, adding that the pitch was difficult to read at first glance.
Pandya revealed he would have preferred to bowl first as well, pointing to the conditions and the nature of the wicket. "Looks like a track that's been under the covers," he said, while also underlining MI's confidence despite the pressure phase of the tournament. "MI has a long history of winning titles; we want to keep our heads high."
The MI skipper also confirmed his own return to the XI along with Afghanistan spinner Allah Ghazanfar, while Suryakumar Yadav was also available and part of the playing XI.
Kolkata Knight Riders made one change to their XI, bringing in Rovman Powell in place of Finn Allen as they looked to strengthen their middle-order power-hitting. Mumbai Indians, meanwhile, welcomed back a host of senior stars, with Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and skipper Hardik Pandya all returning to the playing XI. Making way were Sherfane Rutherford, Raj Angad Bawa, and Shardul Thakur.
Playing XIs:
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Will Jacks, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Raghu Sharma
Impact substitutes: Allah Ghazanfar, Krish Bhagat, Shardul Thakur, Robin Minz, Mayank Rawat
Kolkata Knight Riders: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (wk), Cameron Green, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Rinku Singh, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Kartik Tyagi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Saurabh Dubey
Impact substitutes: Finn Allen, Vaibhav Arora, Ramandeep Singh, Rahul Tripathi, Tejasvi Singh
— IANS
Reader Comments
Glad to see Allah Ghazanfar getting chance as impact sub. That's the beauty of IPL - giving platform to young spinners from all over. Hope he does well.
Honestly, KKR should have batted first. Their bowling lineup with Narine, Varun, and Kartik Tyagi is good but batting looks shaky without a proper opener. Rahane and Raghuvanshi opening feels risky.
Hardik saying they want to keep heads high is good captaincy talk, but MI needs to show intent. Just having star names isn't enough - execution matters in crunch games. Fingers crossed for a thriller at Eden! 🙏
Rovman Powell in for Finn Allen is a smart move by KKR. The West Indian can go berserk in the death overs. But will they give him enough balls to make an impact? That's the question.
A small thing but important - why is MI playing 4 overseas players in XI but keeping Ghazanfar as impact sub? They could have played him directly and kept Corbin Bosch as sub. Corbin is decent but not match-winning. Bit of a tactical miss, in my opinion.
Both teams have plenty of match
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