Hardik returns as MI bowl in 11-overs-a-side contest

Tuesday, 7 April 2026

MI also brought back Trent Boult and AM Ghazanfar

Toss Mumbai Indians choose to bowl vs Rajasthan Royals

After a delay of more than three hours due to persistent rain, Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and had no hesitation to field against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Guwahati.

The match was reduced to 11 overs a side, with a 3.2-over powerplay. There was continuous rain in Guwahati for more than four hours, with the toss finally taking place at 9.55pm, local time and play starting at 10.10pm.

The most important news from the MI camp was the return of Hardik, who missed the game against Delhi Capitals (DC) due to illness. With the surface under covers for a while, the ball is expected to move around early. Trent Boult came back into the side, with Corbin Bosch and Mitchell Santner missing out. Legspinner Mayank Markande also missed out.

AM Ghazanfar was also included in the starting XI, with MI opting for three overseas players first up. Sherfane Rutherford is expected to be the Impact Player.

RR captain Riyan Parag also wanted to bowl, but didn't expect the moisture to play that big a role. RR are going with an unchanged side. They could bring in Ravi Bishnoi as Impact Player but fast bowler Brijesh Sharma is also an option in case the surface is not conducive to spin.

RR are coming into the game eyeing a hat-trick of wins and a chance to move to the top of the points table. They hardly broke a sweat in brushing aside Chennai Super Kings in their opening game before overcoming Gujarat Titans in a last-over finish in Ahmedabad.

MI, meanwhile, began their tournament with a six-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders before they lost to DC by six wickets.

Rajasthan Royals: 1 Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Dhruv Jurel (wk), 4 Riyan Parag (capt), 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Donovan Ferreira, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Nandre Burger, 10 Tushar Deshpande, 11 Sandeep SharmaBench: Ravi Bishnoi, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Brijesh Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Shubham Dubey.

Mumbai Indians: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Ryan Rickelton (wk), 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt), 6 Naman Dhir, 7 Shardul Thakur, 8 Deepak Chahar, 9 AM Ghazanfar, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Jasprit BumrahBench: Ashwani Kumar, Sherfane Rutherford, Corbin Bosch, Robin Minz, Raj Bawa.