Hardik Pandya opts to bat first as MI face SRH in Mumbai on 2026 evening

Hardik Pandya won the toss and chose to bat against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Wankhede Stadium in a crucial IPL 2026 game.

Toss and Pitch Call Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya called heads in the toss and made the unexpected choice to bat first in a vital IPL match against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Mumbai. The last time an IPL skipper had selected to bat first at the Wankhede Stadium was during April of 2023. Since that game, the side winning the toss has chosen to bowl first in twenty-one consecutive IPL fixtures at this venue. Hardik explained that it was a "breezy, slightly cold evening than usual" and did not anticipate dew to significantly affect play, which led to his decision to send his side in to bat. ## Team Changes and Injuries Mumbai Indians made several alterations to their starting XI. Rohit Sharma remains unavailable due to fitness concerns, with Hardik stating that the former captain will "take a couple of more games" to fully recover from a hamstring problem. Quinton de Kock is also sidelined with a wrist issue, while Mitchell Santner has been ruled out of the tournament entirely because of a shoulder injury. In came Ryan Rickelton and Will Jacks, who are set to open the batting according to the official team sheet. Robin Minz also makes his first appearance of the season, and Trent Boult returns to MI's batting-first XI. Shardul Thakur or Krish Bhagat could be named as the Impact Player depending on conditions. ## Sunrisers' Spin Selection Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins indicated he was planning to bowl first on a surface he expected to be slightly tacky. They have gone with the finger-spin option of Harsh Dubey over the wrist-spin of Shivang Kumar, a call that may have been influenced by the possibility of dew developing. Aniket Verma is on standby as the Impact Player for SRH. ## Recent Form and Standings Sunrisers Hyderabad arrive at this match on the back of four consecutive victories. They currently occupy the fourth position in the points table with ten points, and a win here would move them higher up the standings. Mumbai Indians, in contrast, have found the going tough recently. They sit in ninth place with just two wins from seven games played so far. The situation is more concerning at their home ground, where they have lost three out of four games, including a record 103-run defeat against Chennai Super Kings. ## Confirmed XIs Mumbai Indians: 1 Ryan Rickelton (wk), 2 Will Jacks, 3 Naman Dhir, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Hardik Pandya (capt), 7 Robin Minz, 8 Trent Boult, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 AM Ghazanfar, 11 Ashwani Kumar. Bench: Mayank Rawat, Raghu Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Krish Bhagat, Raj Bawa. Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Travis Head, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Ishan Kishan (wk), 4 Henrich Klaasen, 5 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 6 Salil Arora, 7 Pat Cummins (capt), 8 Harsh Dubey, 9 Eshan Malinga, 10 Praful Hinge, 11 Sakib Hussain. Bench: R Smaran, Aniket Verma, Liam Livingstone, Shivang Kumar, Harshal Patel.