When was the last time Mumbai Indians won their opening match of IPL?

Mumbai Indians need to chase down 221 against Kolkata Knight Riders to win their IPL 2026 opening match.

Mumbai Indians (MI) did not enjoy a great start to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, as they were smashed by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batters to all parts of the ground in the first innings. Opting to bowl first after winning the toss, Hardik Pandya and his men were instantly put under the pump, as Finn Allen and captain Ajinkya Rahane came out swinging.

Allah Ghazanfar was expensive on debut, but Shardul Thakur managed to keep things under control with an impressive three-wicket haul. KKR smashed their highest powerplay score of 78/1 against MI, with Rahane leading from the front with a sensational half-century.

Angkrish Raghuvanshi recovered from his slow start to hammer a 51 off 29 balls innings, where he was also given a life by Rohit Sharma, who dropped a sitter near the boundary. Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult bowled well to prevent KKR from scoring 230+, but MI will still have to bat incredibly well to chase this down.

When was the last time Mumbai Indians won their opening match of IPL?

Despite boasting powerful squads year after year, and winning five titles in IPL history, one trend which has eluded the Mumbai Indians team is winning their first match of the season. The last time MI won their opening match of IPL was way back in 2012, when they beat CSK by eight wickets.

This curse could continue even this year after KKR’s superb heroics with the bat. While their bowling is depleted due to Harshit Rana’s injury and Matheesha Pathirana’s absence, chasing 221 is still a huge ask. MI will turn to former captain Rohit Sharma and opener Ryan Rickelton for a quick start, with the onus relying on Indian stars Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav to score runs in the middle overs.

Sherfane Rutherford will also look to display his good form for MI, and Hardik Pandya will hope this losing streak ends under his captaincy.

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