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Mumbai Indians (MI) won the toss and put Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to bat first in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 campaign opener at the Wankhede stadium on March 29.
What did the captains say at the toss?
MI captain Hardik Pandya, after winning the toss, said:
"We are going to bowl. Looks like a good track, it appears greener than it used to. Let's see how it plays. This is our fortress, the crowd is behind us and we're looking to play a good game. We started a couple of weeks earlier, have plenty of experience and a mix of youth. Rohit, Surya, Mitchell Santner - so there's no shortage of captains; I'm just excited to go out there and perform. We're going with 6 batters and 5 bowlers."
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Meanwhile, KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane, after losing the toss, said:
"We were looking to bowl, never seen this amount of grass at Wankhede. Preparations have been good, couple of camps in Kolkata and in Mumbai as well. Know that MI is a champion team and we're looking forward to be playing against them. Just stay at the moment and don't look at the past. A couple of injuries - we're going with 6 batters and 5 bowlers. Four overseas players - Cameron Green, Finn Allen, Sunil Narine and Blessing Muzarabani."
Mumbai Indians' Playing XI:
Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton(w), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Sherfane Rutherford, Naman Dhir, Shardul Thakur, Mayank Markande, AM Ghazanfar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
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Kolkata Knight Riders' Playing XI:
Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi(w), Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Blessing Muzarabani
MI vs KKR Head-to-Head
KKR and MI have locked horns with each other 35 times in IPL so far. While KKR have clinched 11 wins, MI have won 24 matches.
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