RR vs MI IPL 2026: Rajasthan Royals will look to rise to the top of the IPL 2026 Points Table with their third successive win of the season as they go up against five-time champions Mumbai Indians in match No. 13 at the ACA Stadium in Guwahati on Tuesday. The visitors are set to ring in a few changes with regular skipper Hardik Pandya set to return to the playing 11.
Pandya had missed the last match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday which resulted in a six-wicket loss for his side at the hands of Delhi Capitals. MI all-rounder resumed bowling after reaching Guwahati with the team on Sunday which means he will replace Suryakumar Yadav as the captain of the team.
“Hardik Pandya is available. He had a couple of nets session. He is fine. He was not injured, but was unwell. That’s the reason he was unavailable last game,” MI bowling coach Paras Mhambrey said at the pre-match press conference in Guwahati on Monday.
MI had to bring in both Deepak Chahar and Corbin Bosch into the playing 11 to replace ‘unwell’ Pandya. With the MI captain returning to the playing 11, Chahar and Bosch will both be going out with Trent Boult set to return to the side along with Pandya.
Mhambrey also showed faith in the batting form of former skipper Rohit Sharma, who started off the IPL 2026 campaign with a brilliant 78 against Kolkata Knight Riders in Mumbai.
“I don’t think anyone doubted Rohit’s performance, right? I don’t think his performing or not performing is a bonus. We don’t look at it that way. We look at it in terms of what he brings to the table, you know, other than the cricket as well. It’s the expertise, the experience, the chat on the field with the bowlers, with the batters. I think he adds a lot of value. So for us, I think it’s a lot more holistic, a lot more all-around approach. It’s too early for us to look into the performances or forms. It’s just 2 games into it. So yeah, I think just give him a couple of other games as well, and we’ll see how it goes for us,” Mhambrey said about Rohit Sharma.
The home side RR, on the other hand, have enjoyed a perfect start to the season with wins over Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans. The second of those wins was a tight one against Shubman Gill’s GT and was completed thanks to a brilliant last over Tushar Deshpande.
RR will once again bank on the explosive form of opener Vaibhav Suryavanshi, who was retained for Rs 1.1 crore ahead of IPL 2026 season. The RR opener turned 15 years of age last month and started off the campaign with an explosive 18-ball fifty.
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— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) April 7, 2026
Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians IPL 2026 match no 13 Predicted 12
Rajasthan Royals: Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Ravi Bishnoi, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Naman Dhir, Hardik Pandya (c), Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Trent Boult, Mayank Markande/Ashwani Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah