Trent Boult's exclusion is tactical.
Why is Trent Boult not in Mumbai Indians playing XI today for DC vs MI IPL 2026 match? This has been a major question since the team was announced.
Trent Boult’s exclusion has more to do with the team combinations and less to do with his form with the ball. MI are without Hardik Pandya for this game, so they need to maintain that balance by bringing in a pace-bowling all-rounder in the lower middle order.
As a result, Corbin Bosch has replaced him, and he will act as an all-rounder who can bowl pace and hit pacers in the batting setup. He acts as a like-for-like replacement for Hardik and gives better control in slog overs after improving his accuracy on yorkers.
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Meanwhile, MI have also included Deepak Chahar as a specialist pacer for Boult, and he will bowl in the powerplay along with Shardul Thakur and Jasprit Bumrah. So, he covers that part and also adds batting depth in the lower order.
So, this answers the question ‘Why is Trent Boult not in Mumbai Indians playing XI today for DC vs MI IPL 2026 match?’ He will likely return to the playing XI once Hardik gets fit and returns to the side.
Trent Boult hasn’t been close to his best for a while now, and his minimal usage in the powerplay indicates his diminishing new-ball credentials. He has mostly bowled in the second half of the innings and focused on nailing his yorkers with the old ball.
Corbin Bosch does the same role with better control and greater accuracy after recent developments as a bowler. At this stage, Bosch remains a better death-over bowler than Boult, whose accuracy always remains off.
Hence, there’s a possibility of the South African all-rounder keeping his place if his performances in Hardik’s absence are good enough. He gives a lot more flexibility and adds immense depth to the batting unit to allow the main batters to go harder from the top.
For now, Mumbai Indians would want Bosch to fill the big shoes of Hardik Pandya and contribute heavily with the ball. MI can’t afford to have him poor bowling performances since their other pacers, barring Jasprit Bumrah, are highly vulnerable.
Delhi Capitals: KL Rahul(w), Pathum Nissanka, Nitish Rana, Axar Patel(c), Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Vipraj Nigam, Lungi Ngidi, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton(w), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Naman Dhir, Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell Santner, Corbin Bosch, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah
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