IPL 2026, MI vs KKR 2nd Match Match Preview

Big picture: KKR’s conundrum

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had entered the IPL 2026 auction with the biggest purse, INR 64.30 crore. Fast-forward to the start of the tournament, and it’s difficult to say what their best XII looks like.

KKR had rebuilt their pace-bowling department, signing Mustafizur Rahman, Matheesha Pathirana and Akash Deep but come the first game, none of them is available. They had to release Mustafizur on the BCCI’s instruction, Akash Deep is out of the tournament with a back injury, and Pathirana is recovering from a calf strain. Harshit Rana has also been ruled out because of his knee injury. Their replacements are not as mouthwatering.

KKR will also have to make important decisions regarding their batting order. Do they open with Tim Seifert or Finn Allen? What’s the ideal slot for Ajinkya Rahane? Should Cameron Green bat in the middle order or fill Andre Russell’s role of the finisher?

With so many questions to answer, a game against five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium is a tough season opener. But KKR could draw confidence from the fact that MI have not won their first match of an IPL season since 2012. On the other hand, KKR have won only two of their 12 games against MI at the Wankhede: one in 2012 and another in 2024.

MI are without Will Jacks and Mitchell Santner for this game; both are yet to join the side. But in Sherfane Rutherford and AM Ghazanfar, they have solid back-ups. Jasprit Bumrah, who was at the CoE in Bengaluru to work on strength and conditioning, has joined the side and will be available for Sunday’s game.

Key question

Team news: Ghazanfar set for IPL debut

With Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar expected to share the new ball, Ashwani Kumar could be the fourth seamer in addition to Bumrah, with Hardik Pandya to chip in as required. Ghazanfar, who will be making his IPL debut, could be MI’s only spinner. Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton are competing for the wicketkeeper and opener’s slot alongside Rohit Sharma.

Mumbai Indians (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Quinton de Kock/Ryan Rickelton (wk), 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt), 6 Naman Dhir, 7 Sherfane Rutherford, 8 Deepak Chahar, 9 AM Ghazanfar, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Ashwani Kumar, 12 Trent Boult

Rahane at the top of the KKR order arguably lends the best balance. Angkrish Raghuvanshi was doing keeping drills both on Friday and Saturday but it’s likely that Allen or Seifert will keep depending on who plays.

Kolkata Knight Riders (probable): 1 Finn Allen (wk), 2 Ajinkya Rahane (capt), 3 Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 4 Cameron Green, 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Anukul Roy, 7 Ramandeep Singh, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Vaibhav Arora, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Blessing Muzarabani, 12 Umran Malik/Kartik Tyagi

In the spotlight: Rohit Sharma and Varun Chakravarthy

From 2016 to 2023, Rohit Sharma‘s best strike rate in an IPL season was 133.02. But in the last two seasons, he has improved it significantly, going at 150.00 in 2024 and 149.28 in 2025. MI will expect him to continue giving the team fast starts.

Varun Chakravarthy entered the 2026 T20 World Cup as the top-ranked T20I bowler. He bowled like one in the first round, taking nine wickets in four games at an economy rate of 5.16. But in the next five matches, his performance nose-dived: five wickets at an economy rate of 11.84. He had a short break after the World Cup, and sometimes that’s all you need to fine-tune your processes and get back to your best.

Stats and trivia: MI openers vs Narine

Sunil Narine has a great T20 record against Rohit and de Kock. He has dismissed Rohit ten times in 26 innings while restricting him to a strike rate of 106.77. De Kock has fared worse: six dismissals in 15 innings and a strike rate of 91.83.
In IPL 2025, Bumrah had an economy rate of 4.89 in the middle overs and 7.50 at the death – the best among those who bowled at least ten overs in each of those phases.
In four of his last five T20Is, Varun had an economy rate of ten or more.
Allen has hit the most sixes in T20s this year: 50 in just 16 innings. De Kock is fifth on the list with 35 in 18, while Rickelton is seventh with 33 in 18.
Boult has taken 32 wickets in the first over in the IPL. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is second with 27, followed by Chahar and Praveen Kumar with 15 each.

Pitch and conditions: No toss advantage

The Wankhede surface is generally good for batting and stays true throughout the match, minimising the toss advantage. In the last 20 night T20s here, teams winning the toss have always opted to chase but they won only nine of those games. What matters is the first-innings total; to be on the safer side, you need something close to 200.

The weather will be warm and humid, and since it’s not expected to cool down much, the chances of dew are minimal.

Next three fixtures

Mumbai Indians

Apr 4: vs Delhi Capitals, Delhi
Apr 7: Rajasthan Royals, Guwahati
Apr 12: Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Wankhede

Kolkata Knight Riders

Apr 2: vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, Eden Gardens
Apr 6: Punjab Kings, Eden Gardens
Apr 9: Lucknow Super Giants, Eden Gardens

Quotes

“I don’t think the history matters; tomorrow is what matters. The teams have changed. There are new players who have come in for both teams. Yeah, having that record.shows that whatever we are doing is good. But we need to do that and better to beat a good team. And we know that KKR is a very, very good team.”
MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene on his side’s dominating record against KKR

“Let’s hope the shocking record MI have in the first game continues. Obviously we’re playing here at the Wankhede Stadium – it’s a fortress. Mumbai Indians are very hard to beat here, from experience, from a playing perspective and a coaching perspective. So we certainly have to be at our very, very best.”
KKR assistant coach Shane Watson

Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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