IPL 2026: Why is Bumrah not playing MI's final league game vs RR today?

The five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) are set to conclude their forgettable IPL 2026 campaign today as they host Rajasthan Royals (RR) in match 69 of the season at Wankhede Stadium.

 

However, ahead of the match, the Mumbai-based franchise made a big change to their playing 11 as they decided to rest their star bowler Jasprit Bumrah for the game.

 

Despite being in great form during the 2026 T20 World Cup, Bumrah had a below-par IPL 2026 season. The pacer picked up only four wickets in 13 matches, with the best bowling figures of 1/15.

 

Shardul Thakur has been named as Bumrah’s replacement in the squad.  Check all the live updates of the Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals match in IPL 2026 here

 

MI look to play spoilsport for RR

Notably, this is a dead-rubber game for MI as, with just eight points from 13 matches, they are sitting ninth in the points table and are already eliminated from the playoffs race.

 

However, they can spoil RR’s party, who have a chance to win the game today and finish in the top four with 16 points, while a loss will knock them out, leaving Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) battling it out for the last playoff spot.

Jadeja, Burger return for RR

RR, who are playing a do-or-die game today, made two changes to their playing 11 as skipper Riyan Parag announced after the toss that Ravindra Jadeja and Nandre Burger have returned in place of Lhuan-dré Pretorius and Sandeep Sharma.

IPL 2026: MI vs RR playing 11

Mumbai Indians Playing 11: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Will Jacks, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, AM Ghazanfar, Raghu Sharma

 

Impact players: Rohit Sharma, Mayank Rawat, Robin Minz, Krish Bhagat, Trent Boult

 

Rajasthan Royals Playing 11: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (c), Donovan Ferreira, Shubham Dubey, Dasun Shanaka, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Yash Raj Punja, Brijesh Sharma

 

Impact players: Ravindra Jadeja, Sushant Mishra, Aman Rao Perala, Ravi Bishnoi, Tushar Deshpande