There was a proper storm brewing in Guwahati on Tuesday, April 7 as Rajasthan Royals looked to ride their early momentum against the mighty Mumbai Indians. And no, this wasn’t about the weather trying to spoil the party at Barsapara, this one was always going to be about bat meeting ball.
Once the game got going, the real chaos arrived through the bats of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in an 11-over shootout. It felt like loading up Contra in two-player mode, where the only plan is simple, keep firing till the other side collapses. That was exactly the vibe RR brought to the middle from ball one.
RR vs MI, IPL 2026: Scorecard | Highlights
But when MI came out to bat, it felt like someone forgot to plug the controller in. The shots were few, the intent even fewer, and RR just ran away with it like seasoned pros against a side still trying to find the power button.
So, what was the defining moment? If you’re new here, at India Today, we don’t just stick to the scorecard. With IPL Play of the Day, we pick that one passage where the game quietly flips and never really comes back.
Now yes, you could easily go with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi taking apart Jasprit Bumrah. That’s the highlight, the clip everyone will replay. But like any good game, the real twist wasn’t just one big moment. It was the approach. One side went full Contra mode, guns blazing. The other looked like the controller wasn’t quite working.
WATCH HOW VAIBHAV WELCOMED BUMRAH:
RR GO INTO TURBO MODE, MI STUCK IN NEUTRAL
Yashasvi Jaiswal, who ended unbeaten on 77, set the tone like someone smashing the fire button from the first frame. 22 runs off Deepak Chahar, and suddenly RR were already halfway through the level before MI could react. From the other end, Sooryavanshi joined in, and even Bumrah had to crack a smile after being sent for two sixes by a 15-year-old who clearly came to play, not pause.
The powerplay lasted just 3.2 overs, but RR had already piled on 58 in the first 18 balls. From there, it was pure turbo mode. 150 runs in 11 overs, and almost every over had a boundary or a maximum. No breaks, no slow levels, just constant attack.
The intent was crystal clear. No respect for reputations, no time to settle. Just see ball, hit ball.
Mumbai, though, looked like they were still figuring out the controls.
In a shortened chase, the script is simple. Go hard or go home. But from the very first over, MI seemed caught between caution and chaos. Ryan Rickelton nudged around. Rohit Sharma tried to go big but couldn’t connect cleanly. One six came, and then the game just slipped into a pattern RR had already broken.
Wickets kept falling, and every time MI tried to push forward, they got pulled back. Suryakumar Yadav’s lap shot six was a brief power-up, but it didn’t last. Rohit fell, Tilak Varma couldn’t get going, and Hardik Pandya never quite found that finishing gear.
For a batting line-up stacked with T20 World Cup winners, it felt unusually subdued. Like a team that forgot this wasn’t a game where you could take your time.
By the time MI tried to shift gears, the game was already done.
Hardik kept it straight after the match.
“I will not put this match on the batting. We lost it by 27 runs, which means 5 good balls and it would have been different. If we would have executed the right balls, we would have been in the game. Their openers started off well. And we were playing catching up,” he said.
And that’s where it circles back. RR didn’t just start well, they played like a team that knew this was a sprint. MI played like they had overs to spare.
For RR, it’s simple. Their openers are in ridiculous touch and playing fearless cricket. For MI, it might be time to rethink the approach at the top.
Because the names are still big, the reputation still strong. On paper, MI are always contenders.
But on this rainy night in Guwahati, it just felt like RR were playing on full power, while MI were stuck waiting for the game to load.
