Indian Premier League 2026 - 20th Match
MI
0/0
vs
RCB
0/0
Match starts at Apr 12, 14:00 GMT
won the toss and chose to
Commentary
Preview by Vijay Tagore
It's Ro-Ko time in the IPL and if the broadcasters have not quite made a big splash of it yet, it could be because the two will be on opposite sides of the duel at the Wankhede. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli remain box office, as compelling as rivals as they are as teammates, and this promises to be a blockbuster contest on Sunday night in Mumbai.
A clash between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru is always a mouth-watering one, if not quite the El Clasico - an honour generally reserved for the season's face-offs between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. But the new Ro-Ko factor adds a new dimension to the contest, with both sides coming off a mauling at the hands of a Rajasthan Royals unit powered by a certain Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in their respective last matches.
Both Rohit, who will turn 39 later this month, and Kohli (37) may not have exactly set the stadiums afire, but they have made reasonably good starts to the season, striking at around 168-180, with each scoring a half-century in the three matches their sides have played. Rohit, albeit ephemerally, even held the Orange Cap. Now in the autumn of their careers, they continue to influence the outcome of contests. Game-changers still, as much as they were in their spring, their teams' fortunes will depend on the starts they provide upfront.
But Kieron Pollard had a different view on the star-power and the match-up. "As you said, it's the Rohit-Kohli show. I look at it as Mumbai Indians versus Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and let the individuals enjoy this phase of their careers," the MI batting coach said, playing down the emphasis on individuals in a team game.
But one individual is difficult to ignore in the context of the season and the match. Jasprit Bumrah has looked off-colour, with no wickets so far this season. He is wicketless in his last four IPL games, including Qualifier 2 of the 2025 season, raising questions about his workload and possible fatigue. He was uncharacteristically slow in the previous match in Guwahati, operating in the 130s.
"It can be 97, it can be 105. From our side, it's fine. We don't look at cricket that way, and I, as an individual, never look at it like that. Cricket is a team sport. For us, it's about coming together as one and trying to get the desired result at the end of the day. Otherwise, you start looking into different things and creating narratives that aren't really there. For us, he's fine - he's fit, he's firing. And for your sake, I hope he gets five wickets tomorrow," the MI batting coach said about the form of their spearhead.
It is a vital fixture for both teams, more so for the home side, who broke the 13-year jinx of losing their opening matches, only to squander that advantage by dropping the next two. They need to capitalise on their familiar home conditions - something important in the IPL and something RCB have managed to do, so far.
When: MI vs RCB, IPL 2026, April 12 at 7:30 PM IST
Where: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
What to expect: Small ground, a placid strip, and batting-heavy sides - it promises to be a high-scoring contest, as always at the Wankhede. Totals in excess of 200 are very much on the cards, as seen in the last two T20 matches at the ground, where a target of 220 was chased down and even a score of 250 came in danger of being overhauled.
Head to head: MI 19 - 15 RCB. MI have won six of the last seven contests vs RCB at the Wankhede, with the visitors' only win coming last year.
Team Watch
Mumbai Indians
Injuries/Unavailabilities: Will Jacks is yet to report but Kieron Pollard confirms Mitchell Santner, who missed the previous match, is available for the game. Should the New Zealand skipper come in, one of Allah Ghazanfar and Trent Boult will make way.
Tactics & Match-ups: Devdutt Padikkal and Tim David have been the dangermen for RCB, and it would not be a surprise if MI manage Jasprit Bumrah's overs carefully with the two in mind. Bumrah enjoys a favourable match-up against Padikkal. Kieron Pollard said MI would look to keep David, who played for them for three seasons, quiet.
Probable XII: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c), Naman Dhir, Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Injuries/Unavailabilities: Having travelled from Guwahati to Mumbai on Saturday, RCB chose rest over practice. There is no information of any injury to any of their players. All players are expected to be available.
Tactics & Match-ups: Jacob Bethell in place of Phil Salt is a probable option for RCB although it will be unfair on Salt who did well against CSK in the second match. Suyash Sharma may regain his place as an Impact Player, unless there is another collapse like the one in Guwahati, when the management had to bring in Venkatesh Iyer as the Impact Player. The team management may also have a discussion on Abhinandan Singh.
Probable XII: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt/Jacob Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma
Did you know
Jasprit Bumrah has not picked a wicket in his last four IPL games, a sequence stretching back to the second Qualifier last season. It has been 98 balls since his last wicket in the competition - the second longest wicketless sequence for him in the tournament.
Venkatesh Iyer won POTM in two of his last three appearances at the Wankhede.
The defeat in Guwahati on Friday was RCB's first defeat in a designated away league fixture in 11 games since 2024.
What they said
"It's a great honour, a privilege, and an achievement for any individual to be with one franchise for that long. Not many can say that. Fortunately, I can, but Rohit has been a great leader for us over the years. He's also been a terrific leader for Indian cricket. He's a legend in his own right, and as I said, long may that continue. We will continue to celebrate his success, and I'm certainly happy to have him in our dressing room" - Kieron Pollard on Rohit Sharma completing 15 years with MI
"I think it started from last year. Phil Salt did well for us. I know the way Jacob Bethell batted in the World Cup, there is always a temptation to include him. But as a team, we have tried to keep things as simple as possible. I understand that things may look different from the outside, but internally we know he is a very good player. At the same time, this is largely the same squad that did well last season, and everyone is performing. So I don't think there was much we needed to change" - RCB's Bhuvneshwar Kumar on Phil Salt and Jacob Bethell
It's Ro-Ko time in the IPL and if the broadcasters have not quite made a big splash of it yet, it could be because the two will be on opposite sides of the duel at the Wankhede. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli remain box office, as compelling as rivals as they are as teammates, and this promises to be a blockbuster contest on Sunday night in Mumbai.
A clash between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru is always a mouth-watering one, if not quite the El Clasico - an honour generally reserved for the season's face-offs between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. But the new Ro-Ko factor adds a new dimension to the contest, with both sides coming off a mauling at the hands of a Rajasthan Royals unit powered by a certain Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in their respective last matches.
Both Rohit, who will turn 39 later this month, and Kohli (37) may not have exactly set the stadiums afire, but they have made reasonably good starts to the season, striking at around 168-180, with each scoring a half-century in the three matches their sides have played. Rohit, albeit ephemerally, even held the Orange Cap. Now in the autumn of their careers, they continue to influence the outcome of contests. Game-changers still, as much as they were in their spring, their teams' fortunes will depend on the starts they provide upfront.
But Kieron Pollard had a different view on the star-power and the match-up. "As you said, it's the Rohit-Kohli show. I look at it as Mumbai Indians versus Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and let the individuals enjoy this phase of their careers," the MI batting coach said, playing down the emphasis on individuals in a team game.
But one individual is difficult to ignore in the context of the season and the match. Jasprit Bumrah has looked off-colour, with no wickets so far this season. He is wicketless in his last four IPL games, including Qualifier 2 of the 2025 season, raising questions about his workload and possible fatigue. He was uncharacteristically slow in the previous match in Guwahati, operating in the 130s.
"It can be 97, it can be 105. From our side, it's fine. We don't look at cricket that way, and I, as an individual, never look at it like that. Cricket is a team sport. For us, it's about coming together as one and trying to get the desired result at the end of the day. Otherwise, you start looking into different things and creating narratives that aren't really there. For us, he's fine - he's fit, he's firing. And for your sake, I hope he gets five wickets tomorrow," the MI batting coach said about the form of their spearhead.
It is a vital fixture for both teams, more so for the home side, who broke the 13-year jinx of losing their opening matches, only to squander that advantage by dropping the next two. They need to capitalise on their familiar home conditions - something important in the IPL and something RCB have managed to do, so far.
When: MI vs RCB, IPL 2026, April 12 at 7:30 PM IST
Where: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
What to expect: Small ground, a placid strip, and batting-heavy sides - it promises to be a high-scoring contest, as always at the Wankhede. Totals in excess of 200 are very much on the cards, as seen in the last two T20 matches at the ground, where a target of 220 was chased down and even a score of 250 came in danger of being overhauled.
Head to head: MI 19 - 15 RCB. MI have won six of the last seven contests vs RCB at the Wankhede, with the visitors' only win coming last year.
Team Watch
Mumbai Indians
Injuries/Unavailabilities: Will Jacks is yet to report but Kieron Pollard confirms Mitchell Santner, who missed the previous match, is available for the game. Should the New Zealand skipper come in, one of Allah Ghazanfar and Trent Boult will make way.
Tactics & Match-ups: Devdutt Padikkal and Tim David have been the dangermen for RCB, and it would not be a surprise if MI manage Jasprit Bumrah's overs carefully with the two in mind. Bumrah enjoys a favourable match-up against Padikkal. Kieron Pollard said MI would look to keep David, who played for them for three seasons, quiet.
Probable XII: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c), Naman Dhir, Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Injuries/Unavailabilities: Having travelled from Guwahati to Mumbai on Saturday, RCB chose rest over practice. There is no information of any injury to any of their players. All players are expected to be available.
Tactics & Match-ups: Jacob Bethell in place of Phil Salt is a probable option for RCB although it will be unfair on Salt who did well against CSK in the second match. Suyash Sharma may regain his place as an Impact Player, unless there is another collapse like the one in Guwahati, when the management had to bring in Venkatesh Iyer as the Impact Player. The team management may also have a discussion on Abhinandan Singh.
Probable XII: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt/Jacob Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma
Did you know
Jasprit Bumrah has not picked a wicket in his last four IPL games, a sequence stretching back to the second Qualifier last season. It has been 98 balls since his last wicket in the competition - the second longest wicketless sequence for him in the tournament.
Venkatesh Iyer won POTM in two of his last three appearances at the Wankhede.
The defeat in Guwahati on Friday was RCB's first defeat in a designated away league fixture in 11 games since 2024.
What they said
"It's a great honour, a privilege, and an achievement for any individual to be with one franchise for that long. Not many can say that. Fortunately, I can, but Rohit has been a great leader for us over the years. He's also been a terrific leader for Indian cricket. He's a legend in his own right, and as I said, long may that continue. We will continue to celebrate his success, and I'm certainly happy to have him in our dressing room" - Kieron Pollard on Rohit Sharma completing 15 years with MI
"I think it started from last year. Phil Salt did well for us. I know the way Jacob Bethell batted in the World Cup, there is always a temptation to include him. But as a team, we have tried to keep things as simple as possible. I understand that things may look different from the outside, but internally we know he is a very good player. At the same time, this is largely the same squad that did well last season, and everyone is performing. So I don't think there was much we needed to change" - RCB's Bhuvneshwar Kumar on Phil Salt and Jacob Bethell
Squads:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Squad: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhinandan Singh, Josh Hazlewood, Venkatesh Iyer, Suyash Sharma, Jacob Bethell, Rasikh Salam Dar, Kanishk Chouhan, Jacob Duffy, Mangesh Yadav, Swapnil Singh, Jordan Cox, Vicky Ostwal, Vihaan Malhotra, Satvik Deswal
Mumbai Indians Squad: Ryan Rickelton(w), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Naman Dhir, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, AM Ghazanfar, Jasprit Bumrah, Sherfane Rutherford, Corbin Bosch, Robin Minz, Raj Bawa, Ashwani Kumar, Mitchell Santner, Mayank Markande, Quinton de Kock, Will Jacks, Mayank Rawat, Raghu Sharma, Atharva Ankolekar, Danish Malewar, Mohammed Salahuddin Izhar