Who Are Krish Bhagat And Danish Malewar - Mumbai Indians Debutants vs Gujarat Titans In IPL 2026 Clash

Struggling with four losses in five matches, Mumbai Indians rang in big changes to their playing XI for the IPL 2026 match against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on Monday. Krish Bhagat and Danish Malewar made their debuts, while Ryan Rickelton and Deepak Chahar were left out of the side. Krish Bhagat is a 21-year-old right-handed all-rounder who represents Punjab. He brings versatility to the MI squad as a right-arm fast bowler and can contribute with the bat as a lower-order batter. Krish has been part of the Mumbai Indians trials for the past couple of years. He played for the Reliance team in the DY Patil T20 Cup in 2026 and has been a support bowler with the squad since the pre-season this year.

Here's what iplt20.com had to say about Danish Malewar: "Hailing from Nagpur, Danish Malewar is a bright and talented right-handed batter. His consistent domestic performances for Vidarbha across formats earned him a maiden IPL call-up as Mumbai Indians signed him for INR 30 lakh at the 2026 auction."

Gujarat Titans (GT) won the toss and elected to bowl first. GT skipper Shubman Gill said, "It looks like a decent wicket, honestly. There was a bit of dew in the last match, so just in case there is today, I think it would make more sense. Always good to have a target on the board and then try to chase it down. I think the way we have been bowling up front has been a huge positive for us, even in the last match and the game before that. Hopefully, we continue with our bowling rhythm up front, and then in the middle overs, Rashid Khan has been really good for us."

"So hopefully we all continue in the same manner. It's always good to have some runs under your belt, and in a tournament like the IPL, a long tournament, if you start well, you can really have a good season. That's what I will strive for. It's always a good challenge to play against them. I think they are a solid team, and hopefully it's going to be a good match. We're going with the same team," he added.

After losing the toss, MI skipper Hardik Pandya spoke about the changes in the team and their performance so far this season.

"We would have fielded as well. It's obviously the last game for us as a group. We had to regroup and speak about what the Mumbai Indians stand for and the kind of game we want to play. We had a good number of chats, and people are looking forward to the game. (You have bounced back from such situations before?) Yeah, more often than not. This time we want to make sure we start winning and play some good cricket, ticking the boxes whenever we're supposed to. And yeah, just backing each other and sticking by each other," he said.

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Topics mentioned in this article

Mumbai Indians Gujarat Titans IPL 2026 Krish Bhagat Danish Malewar Cricket