The star opening pair are not playing for Mumbai Indians in the GT vs MI IPL 2026 clash.
The Mumbai Indians are keen to end their losing streak as they take on the Gujarat Titans tonight in Ahmedabad. But the team’s star opening pair, Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton, are not playing in the GT vs MI fixture of the IPL 2026.
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (C), Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (WK), Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar, Shahrukh Khan, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, and Ashok Sharma.
Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (C), Danish Malewar, Quinton de Kock (WK), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell Santner, Krish Bhagat, Jasprit Bumrah, and AM Ghazanfar.
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The former MI skipper is yet to recover from his hamstring injury that he sustained during the home clash against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Earlier, he had also missed participating in their game against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) on April 16. Though Rohit was seen practicing in the nets before both of the fixtures, as the MI captain Hardik Pandya noted in the previous toss, the opener might need a few more fixtures to regain his full match fitness.
On the other hand, Rickelton has missed out on securing his spot in the Mumbai Indians’ starting XI after battling with a rough patch of form. The South African batter had started off the IPL 2026 with a pulsating 43-ball 81 facing the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He was also the hosts’ top scorer in the match as the team broke their over-a-decade-long jinx to win the first match of the season.
But since then, the 29-year-old has struggled to find his rhythm, managing only 56 runs in his next four appearances, including three single-digit scores. With the franchise also enduring a four-match losing streak, the absence of their star opening duo would be a major blow.
For the GT vs MI fixture, the management had put their faith in veteran wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock and debutant Danish Malewar to open the innings for the visitors. But following a low-scoring outing by the youngster, last match’s centurion de Kock also failed to replicate a similar show.
At the time of writing, Naman Dhir and Tilak Varma are at the crease as a fierce three-wicket haul from Kagiso Rabada has reduced the Mumbai outfit to 46/3 inside the powerplay.
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