The Rajasthan Royals (RR) will battle it out against the Mumbai Indians (MI) in Match 13 of the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Tuesday, April 7. This will be their second home match in Assam after first playing against the Chennai Super Kings in the opening game of the new season.
RR come into the game after beating the Gujarat Titans by six runs in a close game in Ahmedabad. After putting 210 on the board batting first, RR needed Tushar Deshpande’s
excellence in the last over to bail themselves out of a tricky situation. The seamer defended 11 runs in the last over to help his side pick up their second consecutive win of the tournament.
MI, meanwhile, will be looking to bounce back in Guwahati after suffering a defeat at the hands of the Delhi Capitals in the capital city. The five-time champions put just 162 runs on the board batting first, which was chased down by DC with relative ease thanks to Sameer Rizvi’s 51-ball 90.
Both RR and MIplayed just once against each other last year. Though the game did not take place in Guwahati, it was played out in RR’s official home in Jaipur, where the visitors registered an emphatic 100-run victory. Batting first, MI put 217 runs on the board after half-centuries by Ryan Rickelton and Rohit Sharma. In reply, the 2008 champions were bundled out for just 117, with Trent Boult and Karn Sharma taking three wickets each.
Both sides come into the game with a strong squad, covering all areas of the game. With the Barsapara pitch helping both batters and bowlers, one can expect an extremely close game between the two sides on Tuesday evening.
Barsapara Cricket Stadium Pitch Report
The Barsapara Cricket Stadium is one of the few grounds in India which offers equal assistance to both batters and bowlers. However, a toss-winning captain would usually decide to bowl first and chase down the total as it tends to get easier to bat on under the floodlights.
Guwahati is currently experiencing overcast conditions. Should the weather persist on Tuesday, the fast bowlers would get a massive boost with swing in the early overs.
IPL Stats and Records at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium
| Matches Played |
7 |
| Matches Won Batting First | 3 |
| Matches Won Batting Second | 3 |
| Matches With No Result | 1 |
| Matches Tied | - |
| Average First Innings Score | 146 |
| Highest Team Total | 199/4 |
| Highest Total Successfully Chased |
152 |
RR vs MI Strategies and Match-ups
Both RR and MI have sides with many similarities in their strengths and weaknesses. Both sides have a strong batting lineup with in-form openers. However, there is a slight difference when it comes to their respective bowling lineups. MI has a little bit more experience in their bowling with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Deepak Chahar and Trent Boult being T20 veterans.
MI and RR also have a very close head-to-head record. In their total 31 encounters, MI slightly edges their rivals with 16 wins compared to 14 wins for the Jaipur-based side. In their last five meetings, the five-time champions have come out on top thrice. However, RR has won two out of the last three games against MI.
