He played 13 games in the previous edition.
Why is Mitchell Santner not featuring in the Mumbai Indians Playing XI for the MI vs KKR clash in the IPL 2026? Fans of the franchise will have this question as they begin their quest for the sixth title in the Indian Premier League.
Mumbai Indians will kick off their IPL 2026 season with a clash against Kolkata Knight Riders at the home venue Wankhede Stadium. Santner not being part of the MI playing XI for this game weakens their bowling attack.
Mitchell Santner recently played in the five-match T20I series against South Africa, following the T20 World Cup. He led the Black Caps to the final, where they lost to India. He then featured in the first three games against South Africa before being rested for the last two.
The left-arm spin all-rounder will miss the season opener for MI as he is yet to link up with the team. He is expected to join the team sooner but there is no word on his exact date of arrival. It has to be seen whether he will join the squad before their second game on April 4th.
The absence of Mitchell Santner means the team management is forced to tweak the playing combination. He has been a key member of the side, featuring in 13 matches in the previous edition. He took 10 wickets at an economy of 7.92.
With him missing, MI have to turn to AM Ghazanfar as their lead spinner for this match. The Afghanistan mystery spinner missed the previous season due to an injury but Santner’s absence gives him an opportunity to showcase his skill set in the IPL.
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Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton(w), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Sherfane Rutherford, Naman Dhir, Shardul Thakur, Mayank Markande, AM Ghazanfar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
MI Impact Subs: Suryakumar Yadav, Corbin Bosch, Robin Minz, Raj Bawa, Ashwani Kumar
Kolkata Knight Riders: Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi(w), Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Blessing Muzarabani
KKR Impact Subs: Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Kartik Tyagi, Saurabh Dubey, Tejasvi Dahiya
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