What they have not been able to do in years

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan predicted the winner of the upcoming IPL 2026 match between the Mumbai Indians (MI) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The game will be played on Sunday, March 29, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

MI have had a history of not winning their first game of an IPL season over the years. However, Irfan Pathan reckoned that the five-time champions could change the record this time around. He backed MI to beat KKR in this contest.

“I feel Mumbai, what they have not been able to do in years, winning the first match, they will win this time. Kolkata have a big issue of the combination. You never know. But I feel Mumbai will win,” he said on his YouTube channel.

With a solid core of experienced players like Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, skipper Hardik Pandya, Tilak Varma, and Jasprit Bumrah, among others, MI will back themselves to start strong this time around.

Irfan Pathan picks MI and KKR playing XIIs ahead of their IPL 2026 clash

Ahead of the IPL 2026 clash between MI and KKR, Irfan Pathan picked the playing XIIs for both teams. For Kolkata, he went with Finn Allen and skipper Ajinkya Rahane as the openers. In the middle order, he picked Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, and Rinku Singh. He then picked Tejasvi Dahiya and Ramandeep Singh to complete the top seven. For the bowling, he went with Sunil Narine, Blessing Muzarabani, Vaibhav Arora, and either Kartik Tyagi or Umran Malik. He picked spinner Varun Chakaravarthy as the impact sub.

Irfan picked a strong top seven for Mumbai. He went with Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock as the opening pair, followed by Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, skipper Hardik Pandya, Sherfane Rutherford, and Naman Dhir. Coming to the bowling, he opted for one between Allah Ghazanfar and Mitchell Santner, followed by Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Mayank Markande, and Jasprit Bumrah.

Irfan Pathan’s KKR XII – Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane, Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Rinku Singh, Tejasvi Dahiya, Ramandeep Singh, Sunil Narine, Blessing Muzarabani, Vaibhav Arora, Kartik Tyagi/Umran Malik, Varun Chakaravarthy.

MI XII – Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Sherfane Rutherford, Naman Dhir, Ghazanfar/Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Mayank Markande, Jasprit Bumrah.