🏏IPL 2026: MI vs RCB, 20th Match, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai🏏

🏏IPL 2026: MI vs RCB, 20th Match, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on 12/04/2026 at 7:30PM IST🏏

Wounded by Sooryavanshi, MI and RCB look to bounce back

Both teams are coming off a defeat against Rajasthan Royals in their previous match

In the space of three days, both Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) went to Guwahati and got Sooryavanshied. With the wounds of those bruising defeats to Rajasthan Royals (RR) still fresh, MI and RCB meet on Sunday night at the Wankhede Stadium, hoping to win and hoping for a bit of normalcy.

MI have made a typically slow start to the season and have one win from three games, while RCB had won two before they ran into RR. It's early days yet, but some themes could be emerging already.

For RCB, that one defeat seemed to be just that - one defeat. That they got past 200 against RR despite being six down in the 11th over showed their depth of resources, and if their bowlers took a pounding, the fact that Josh Hazlewood was back was in itself a source of positivity.

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

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.

Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai: Pitch Report

The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai has been extremely friendly in terms of its pitch offering assistance to the batters. That said, it does not mean that bowlers do not enjoy their time in the middle. The pitch, in fact, starts getting a little slower as the night progresses, which can allow bowlers who deliver slower through the air get important breakthroughs.

MI vs RCB: Probable Best Performers of the Match

Probable Best Batter: Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli is undoubtedly one of the most decorated batters in the Indian Premier League. With close to 9000 runs in the cash-rich tournament, Kohli has spearheaded RCB's batting unit right through since the competition began in 2008. With experience and skills backing him, Kohli will want to be the batter with most runs in the game on Sunday.

Probable Best Bowler: Jasprit Bumrah

Pitches don't matter a lot when Jasprit Bumrah comes in to bowl. As a matter of fact, no bowler playing in the upcoming match is as accustomed to the conditions at Wankhede as the MI spearhead pacer. The ace bowler has the ability to both during all facets of the game, which makes him an extremely reliable option for any captain to have in the dressing room.

In the spotlight: Trent Boult and Tim David

After the hammering his team endured against RR, MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene did not hide his feelings about his bowlers' display with the new ball. "Yeah, I think we had some plans, but I don't think, being honest, that we ever executed those plans the way we wanted," he said. Trent Boult had a particularly rough night, getting hit for three sixes - two half-volleys on the pads and one long hop - in a 22-run over and not getting to bowl again. Boult, now 36, doesn't play international cricket anymore and came into the IPL on the back of two months of no competitive cricket. Perhaps because of this lack of cricket, Boult hasn't looked his sharpest at the start of this tournament, both in terms of pace and accuracy, and MI will hope he can find his rhythm quickly, particularly with Deepak Chahar, their other powerplay swing bowler, also looking off-colour.

Next three games

Mumbai Indians

April 16 vs Punjab Kings, Mumbai

April 20 vs Gujarat Titans, Ahmedabad

April 23 vs Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

April 15 vs Lucknow Super Giants, Bengaluru

April 18 vs Delhi Capitals, Bengaluru

April 26 vs Gujarat Titans, Bengaluru

Stats and trivia

If both play on Sunday, it will be the 35th IPL meeting of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Who has done better in these head-to-heads so far? There really isn't much in it. Kohli is nine runs away from 1000 runs in these games, with an average of 35.39, a strike rate of 133.19, and eight fifties. Rohit, meanwhile, has 848 runs at 27.35 and 136.99, with seven fifties.

Eight batters have scored at least 50 runs in IPL 2026 at a 200-plus strike rate. Three are RCB players - Rajat Patidar, Devdutt Padikkal and Tim David. MI don't have anyone on that list.

Four of MI's bowlers - Shardul Thakur, Ghazanfar, Mayank Markande and Boult - have 12-plus economy rates after playing two or more games this season.

MI have an overall 21-14 head-to-head record against RCB, but the last five games have been neck and neck, with RCB winning three and MI two.

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