In the <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/ipl-2026-kuldeep-yadav-wary-of-mumbai-indians-batting-line-up-23624071" rel="nofollow">IPL 2026</a> match against Mumbai Indians (MI), Delhi Capitals' (DC) captain Axar Patel has won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
The "Paltan" has suffered a huge blow as their regular skipper, Hardik Pandya, will miss the contest as he is not feeling well. In his absence, Suryakumar Yadav will lead MI.
After winning the toss, <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/ipl-2026-dc-vs-mi-preview-head-to-head-record-player-to-watch-full-squad-23623994" rel="nofollow">DC</a> skipper Axar said, "I choose to bowl first. First match at home, I want to see how the wicket is behaving. It looks a bit dry, a bit hard. We chased well in the last match. To chase down the target from 26 for 4 in the powerplay, it gives a lot of confidence to the group. Even the top-order know that there are batters in the lower order who can step up if they fail. Playing a home game is always beneficial. Our DC supporters will cheer for us".
MI will enter the clash with three changes. Mitchell Santner will come in place of AM Ghazanfar, Corbin Bosch will also replace Trent Boult, and Deepak Chahar will take the field in place of Hardik.
On the other hand, MI's stand-in captain Suryakumar said, " (Hardik) He's not well, doesn't look good, so he was not fit for today's game. So just getting into his shoes today. (On the win against KKR) If you win the first game after 13-14 years, there's a lot of positivity in the camp, and we're very happy, but completely different venue here from Wankhede. We have to take good responsibility and have a good game here. (On the surface) Looks good, The toss was irrelevant. We wanted to bat first, they wanted to bowl first, but yeah, very happy to bat first. Looks good one. We've done here really well when we've batted first and defended. So yeah, very happy to bat first. Quite a few changes. <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/ipl-2025-mega-auction-mumbai-indians-lock-in-deepak-chahar-for-rs-9-25-crore-after-heated-auction-contest-with-punjab-chennai-23435864" rel="nofollow">Deepak Chahar</a> comes in for Hardik. Corbin Bosch comes in for Boulty, that's a tactical change. Boulty had a good game in the last game at Wankhede. And Mitch Santer comes in for Allah Ghazanfar".
<h2>IPL 2026, Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals: Confirmed Playing XI</h2>
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (WK), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Naman Dhir, Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell Santner, Corbin Bosch, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah.
Delhi Capitals: KL Rahul (WK), Pathum Nissanka, Nitish Rana, Axar Patel (C), David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Kuldeep Yadav, Lungi Ngidi, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar.

IPL 2026: "Paltan" has suffered a huge blow as their regular skipper, Hardik Pandya, will miss contest as he is not feeling well. Suryakumar Yadav will lead MI

IPL 2026: Delhi Capitals win toss, opt to bat/bowl first against Mumbai Indians

IPL 2026: Mukesh Kumar helps DC pick two quick wickets; MI reach 73 runs in 10 overs

The "Paltan" has suffered a huge blow as their regular skipper, Hardik Pandya, will miss the contest as he is not feeling well. In his absence, Suryakumar Yadav will lead MI

IPL 2026: Axar Patel wins toss, elects to bowl first against Mumbai Indians

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