Mumbai Indians are bringing back a rare 11-year-old strategy in their final league match against Rajasthan Royals

Mumbai Indians tried a different tactical approach in their final match of the league stage against Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday, with Hardik Pandya putting in as many as three runs inside the powerplay.This marked only the second instance in IPL 2026 where MI opted for this unusual strategy of using three runs in the first six overs.

Will Jacks was introduced early in the second and was brought back in the fourth over, before Allah Ghazanfar was handed off for the sixth over as MI doubled into spin during the Powerplay phase.Interestingly, Mumbai Indians had used a similar tactic earlier in the season against Lucknow Super Giants on May 4.This was also the first time in MI’s 11-year history in the IPL that they used three overs in the Powerplay, underscoring Wankhede’s rare tactical shift.A rare Powerplay usage for MI in the history of IPLMI have bowled three or more runs in the Powerplay on only a few occasions:

Overall, this was the 18th instance of MI in IPL history of using three or more overs in their first six overs, and only the second in the Impact Player era.Five-time champions, but their fortunes have been mixed recentlyMumbai Indians remains one of the most successful teams in the history of the Indian Premier League, having won five titles in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020 – all under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma.

However, their campaign in IPL 2026 has been inconsistent, with several close losses affecting their momentum.