Who will win today’s IPL 2026 match?

The equation is simple for the Rajasthan Royals (RR). Win, and they are through to the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs at the expense of the Punjab Kings and the Kolkata Knight Riders. Lose, and they will be eliminated in the group stage for yet another season.

RR will travel to the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai to take on the Mumbai Indians (MI) in this must-win encounter. Close to the bottom of the standings, the five-time IPL champions have been among the worst teams in the tournament. However, ironically, they are now close to full strength.

There are concerns over injuries to Riyan Parag and Ravindra Jadeja. With the season on the line, we could see the Royals field something close to their best team, although those players cannot be risked either.

MI’s squad for IPL 2026: Hardik Pandya (c), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, Keshav Maharaj, Shardul Thakur, Tilak Varma, Will Jacks, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Mahipal Lomror, Naman Dhir, Ruchit Ahir, Corbin Bosch, Allah Ghazanfar, Mayank Markande, Raghu Sharma, Robin Minz (wk), Ashwani Kumar, Danish Malewar, Krish Bhagat, Mayank Rawat, Mohammad Izhar.

RR’s squad for IPL 2026: Riyan Parag (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Ravi Bishnoi, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Donovan Ferreira, Dasun Shanaka, Sandeep Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Kuldeep Sen, Adam Milne, Nandre Burger, Kwena Maphaka, Lhuan-dre Pretorius (wk), Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yudhvir Charak, Aman Rao, Ravi Singh, Yash Raj Punja, Vignesh Puthur, Sushant Mishra, Brijesh Sharma.

IPL 2026: RR look to enter playoffs with win over MI

MI haven’t been at their best throughout IPL 2026, but they now have Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya back from injuries. Suryakumar Yadav has been in terrible form, but he too has returned after missing a game due to personal reasons. Even during the first part of the season, when these players were available, Will Jacks hadn’t joined the squad.

RR, meanwhile, have struggled in the recent past. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has almost single-handedly carried the batting unit, while Parag and Jadeja will be big absences if they are unable to make the grade. The bowling unit looks suspect too, and is heavily reliant on Jofra Archer to produce a couple of early breakthroughs.

RR have more to play for and will definitely be motivated, but unless their star players are back and firing, MI might eliminate them from the competition.

Prediction: MI to win Match 69 of IPL 2026.