IPL 2026: DC Opt To Bowl First After Winning Toss; MI Skipper Hardik Pandya Ruled Out Of Match As Suryakumar Yadav Takes Over Captaincy Duties

In a key clash of the IPL 2026, the Delhi Capitals won the toss and elected to bowl first against the Mumbai Indians at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Captain Axar Patel chose to field, aiming to take advantage of early pitch conditions in what marked Delhi’s first home game of the season.

However, the biggest talking point ahead of the match was the absence of Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya, who missed the game after being deemed unfit due to illness. In his absence, senior batter Suryakumar Yadav stepped in to lead the side, confirming at the toss that Pandya was “not well” and unavailable for selection.

Despite the setback, Mumbai Indians entered the contest with confidence following a strong start to their campaign, while Delhi Capitals also carried momentum after a win in their opening match. With both teams in good form, the match promised a competitive battle, even as MI adjusted to playing without their regular captain.

MI XI 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Ryan RIckelton (wk), 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 5 Naman Dhir, 6 Sherfane Rutherford, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Corbin Bosch, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Deepak Chahar, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

MI impact options - Mayank Markande, Robin Minz, Raj Bawa, Trent Boult, Ashwani Kumar

DC XI 1 KL Rahul (wk), 2 Pathum Nissanka, 3 Nitish Rana, 4 Vipraj Nigam, 5 Axar Patel (capt), 6 David Miller, 7 Tristan Stubbs, 8 Kuldeep Yadav, 9 Lungi Ngidi, 10 T Natarajan, 11 Mukesh Kumar

DC impact options - Ashutosh Sharma, Auqib Nabi, Sameer Rizvi, Dushmantha Chameera, Karun Nair