The hottest tickets in Mumbai are now just within touching distance for Mumbai Indians' (MI) fans, with tickets for their first two home games of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season going up for grabs in a phased manner starting from March 19 on the ticketing platform BookMyShow.
In a strategic move, Google Pay has tied up with MI as an official partner and as part of the move, the mobile payment service has acquired an exclusive booking window, giving their customers first priority to seats at the Wankhede Stadium.
The Two Big Home Games Up For Grabs
The five-time champions will begin their campaign against three-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders on March 29. While MI have dominated this fixture over the years, there has been a shift of power in recent years.
In 2024, Venkatesh Iyer (70) and Mitchell Starc (4/33) ended KKR's 12-year-long wait for a win at Wankhede, beating MI by 12 runs. However, last season MI fought back as Ashwini Kumar (4/24) helped bowl out KKR for just 116, a target which they comfortably chased within 13 overs.
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The biggest draw though is the game on April 12, as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) roll into town. The clash will pit Virat Kohli against Rohit Sharma, two giants of Indian cricket as the defending champions take on the joint-most successful team in the tournament.
This game was an absolute run-fest last season with Kohli (67) and Rajat Patildar (64) firing RCB to 221/5. In response, MI could only manage 209/9, falling short by 12 runs.
First-Time Partner: Google Pay Window Opens Sales
With this being the first time Google Pay has come on board with MI as an official partner, sales on the BookMyShow app have been structured across four phases:
Ticket Sale Phases
Phase 1 (Google Pay Exclusive)
March 19, 12:00 IST - March 21, 12:00 IST
Only for GPay UPI users
Phase 2 (MI Members - Gold, Silver, Junior)
March 21, 15:00 IST - March 22, 15:00 IST
Phase 3 (MI Blue Members + BookMyShow Pre-registered Users)
March 22, 17:00 IST - March 23, 17:00 IST
Phase 4 (General Public Sale)
March 23, 18:00 IST onwards
Crucially, for MI registered members, the membership needs to be purchased before 19th March 2026, 23:59 IST to be eligible for these benefits. Once the membership has been acquired, the user need to sign in on BookMyShow with the same credentials (phone number and email id) as used for the membership on mumbaiindians.com.
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