IPL 2026, MI vs RR 69th Match Match Preview

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Big Picture: RR in control of their own fate

After nearly 70 matches across 13 venues, the fourth and the final playoffs spot in IPL 2026 will be decided on the final day of the group stage. The equation for Rajasthan Royals (RR) is simple: win and qualify for the playoffs (regardless of other results). Once Punjab Kings beat Lucknow Super Giants on Saturday night, RR’s slim chances of going through even with a loss were eliminated.

The big boost for RR is that their captain Riyan Parag and allrounder Ravindra Jadeja are fit for their final league game. While Parag has been troubled by a hamstring issue that made him miss two games, Jadeja was out of their last two matches with an elbow and knee issue.

RR’s campaign was derailed when they suffered three successive defeats in the back-end of the season, but their recent comprehensive win against Lucknow Super Giants has put them back on the road to the playoffs. RR also have an edge over MI at the Wankhede, having won three of their four matches against them at this venue since 2015.

As for MI, this is their last chance to give their home crowd something to cheer about after a dismal season. A tenth defeat on Sunday could leave them in danger of finishing with the wooden spoon.

Form Guide

Mumbai Indians LWLWL (last five matches, most recent first)
Rajasthan Royals WLLLW

Key Question

In the spotlight: Bumrah vs Sooryavanshi: round 2

The last time RR met MI, the world got its first sighting of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi vs Jasprit Bumrah. Sooryavanshi has crashed 53 sixes this season, but his first-ball six off Bumrah is arguably the most memorable of the lot.

Sooryavanshi faced only five balls from Bumrah but made the bowler dig into his reserves: a slower ball ended up on his legs and two attempted yorkers came out as full-tosses. Can the grizzled veteran best the teenage prodigy in round 2 on Sunday?

Team news: Jadeja, Parag available

If the Wankhede pitch isn’t slow enough, MI might consider bringing in an extra seamer in place of rookie legspinner Raghu Sharma. MI have cycled through 24 players – the most by any team – so far in this IPL. If they hand a debut to Bihar left-arm seamer Mohammed Izhar, he will be their 25th player.

Mumbai Indians (probable): 1 `Ryan Rickelton (wk), 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Naman Dhir, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Hardik Pandya (capt), 7 Will Jacks, 8 Corbin Bosch, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 AM Ghazanfar, 12 Raghu Sharma/Shardul Thakur

A day before the game, Jadeja had a brief stint with the ball and a longer one with the bat in the Wankhede nets. Parag, though, was not part of RR’s training session but is set to play.

Rajasthan Royals (probable): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 3 Dhruv Jurel (wk), 4 Riyan Parag, 5 Donovan Ferreira, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Dasun Shanaka, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Yash Raj Punja, 10 Brijesh Sharma/Tushar Deshpande, 11 Sandeep Sharma, 12 Sushant Mishra/Nadre Burger

Pitch and conditions

Wankhede’s pitch No. 6 is set to be used for the third time this IPL and the fifth time since February, when it hosted two T20 World Cup games. With this being an afternoon game, batting first might not be a bad idea, especially if the pitch is grippy and slows down as the game wears on. There are some showers forecast for Sunday afternoon in Mumbai.

Stats and Trivia

Sandeep Sharma has dismissed Rohit Sharma six times in 13 IPL innings while keeping him to 38 runs off 47 balls at a strike rate of 80.85. Jorfra Archer also has a good head-to-head record against Rohit in T20s: three wickets in nine innings for just 36 off 36 balls.
Suryakumar Yadav hasn’t fared well against Sandeep either in the IPL: 33 runs off 32 balls for four wickets.
Sooryavanshi is seven away from toppling Chris Gayle’s all-time record of most sixes in an IPL season. Gayle had hit 59 sixes in 15 games in 2012. Sooryavanshi still has a possible four more games this IPL.
Ryan Rickelton has enjoyed batting on the flat, bash-through-the line pitches at the Wankhede, scoring 326 runs in five innings at an average of 81.50 and strike rate of over 200.
Tilak has struggled against spin this season, having been dismissed six times in ten innings while managing 103 off 89 balls at a strike rate of 115.73. He has been more fluent against pace, striking at nearly 170 while being dismissed just four times in 12 innings.

Quotes

“I think it’s not fair just to bring those four guys, but I think as a group, a lot of the guys haven’t been able to consistently perform. That’s how I see it. Yes, they came from a very high, winning the World Cup and all that. What you have to understand is that how you play for your national team and how you play for the IPL franchise – sometimes it is different because the personnel is different.”
MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene on Bumrah, Hardik, Suryakumar and Tilak

“Jaiswal is a different kettle of fish to Vaibhav. He’s been around, obviously he’s only 24-25 as well, so a young captain. He’s so enthusiastic. In the team meetings, [he’s] very good. He’s really talking to all the bowlers, the batsmen. He’s keen to really get the team together.”
RR assistant coach Trevor Penney on Jaiswal’s leadership skills

Deivarayan Muthu is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’

‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.espncricinfo.com ’