With Ryan Rickelton dropped and Rohit Sharma injured, Mumbai Indians (MI) have a new opening pair for their 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) clash against Gujarat Titans (GT) as Quinton de Kock has walked out to open the batting with Danish Malewar. Quinton is coming into the game after making a century against PBKs in his first outing of the season and will have a player making his debut not just for MI but also in the IPL.
Malewar is one of two debutants for MI in today’s game alongside Krish Bhagat. The five-time champions have made three changes as Mitchell Santner is also fit again. Alongside Rickelton, Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar have also been dropped by the Hardik Pandya-led side.
Who Is Danish Malewar?
Malewar is regarded as one of the finest young batters in the Indian domestic structure and has impressed for Vidarbha in domestic cricket over the years. The 22-year-old was signed by the Mumbai-based franchise in the 2026 IPL auction for his base price of ₹30 lakhs.
Today is also Malewar’s first T20 game in his career at the professional level. He has never been selected in the playing XI for his state in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT). Although, it is worth noting that he was dealing with an injury during the 2025–26 season of the competition, which kept him out of action for close to four months.
More to follow…
