• Home
  • Match Hub
  • Explained Why Hayley Matthews Is Not Playing Mi W Vs Rcb W Wpl 2026 Match 1

EXPLAINED: Why Hayley Matthews is not playing MI-W vs RCB-W WPL 2026 Match 1

Aakash Saini

Hayley Matthews and Harmanpreet Kaur [Source: @SpotOnEntertai1/x]Hayley Matthews and Harmanpreet Kaur [Source: @SpotOnEntertai1/x]

Hayley Matthews was ruled out of Mumbai Indians’ opening match of the WPL 2026 season against the RCB Women at the iconic DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur confirmed the same prior to the match, and stated that Australian fast bowler Nicola Carey will receive her maiden WPL cap.

It is worth noting that Hayley Matthews played a huge role in each of Mumbai Indians’ two title victories in the three editions of the tournament so far.

Hayley Matthews unwell, confirms skipper Harmanpreet Kaur

Mumbai Indians Women captain Harmanpreet Kaur has confirmed that West Indies all-rounder Hayley Matthews will not be playing her team’s opening match of the WPL 2026 season against RCB Women on Friday, January 9.

While Harmanpreet stated that Hayley Matthews is not feeling well, she still insisted that the Mumbai Indians team has quite a “balanced side”, citing their past three-year WPL record. The Mumbai Indians skipper further confirmed the WPL debut of Australian fast bowler Nicola Carey.

Harmanpreet Kaur said, “Unfortunately, Hayley Matthews is not playing tonight. She is not well. Apart from that, we have quite a balanced side. We have been playing well for the last 3 seasons. Nicola Carey is making her debut tonight.”

Here is a look at the entire Mumbai Indians playing XI for the match:

Nat Sciver-Brunt, G Kamalini (wk), Amelia Kerr, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Amanjot Kaur, Nicola Carey, Poonam Khemnar, Shabnim Ismail, Sanskriti Gupta, Sajeevan Sajana and Saika Ishaque.

RCB Women captain Smriti Mandhana won the toss and opted to field first, inviting Harmanpreet Kaur’s troops to put runs on the board upfront.

As of now, it remains to be seen how well the Mumbai Indians franchise will bode against RCB Women in the absence of their prolific all-rounder Hayley Matthews.