IPL 2026: Hardik Pandya Wins Toss, Mumbai Indians Choose To Bowl

Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl first against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Match 20 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.

The home side made two changes to their playing XI, with Mitchell Santner and Mayank Markande replacing AM Ghazanfar and Deepak Chahar. Meanwhile, RCB brought in Jacob Duffy in place of Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood.

Pandya said it looks like a good track and that it is always good to bat second at this venue.

“Tonight is a big game, so just come out and play good cricket, and enjoy the sport,” said the Mumbai Indians skipper.

Pandya emphasised the importance of execution, saying, “You need to land the ball right and play the right shots. As long as you do that, you are in the game,” and added that chasing provides clarity.

RCB skipper Rajat Patidar said he too would have opted to bowl first, but believes the toss may not be decisive. He pointed to positives from their previous outing, where the team crossed the 200-run mark.

“There is a lot of support for the home side, and that is challenging,” he said, adding it is also a nice opportunity for them.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru XI: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (capt), Tim David, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Suyash Sharma

Mumbai Indians XI: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (capt), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Markande

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