Rising Pune Supergiant skipper Steve Smith won the toss and decided to field first in the season-opener against two-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune.

For Pune, new recruits Ben Stokes and Imran Tahir are making their debut while Faf du Plessis misses out.On the other hand, Mumbai have not included veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh in the team and have instead opted for three pacers on a pitch which is likely to assist the pacers.

Here is what the captains said:

Steve Smith: “We are gonna have a bowl. We like chasing and there will be a bit of dew later on. Little bit more grass and I’m hoping this is a good T20 wicket. We have trained well in the last week. We have got a good squad.”

Rohit Sharma: “It’s been a long time, and we are all ready to go. It has been a good journey. Last year wasn’t great. We want to change the fortunes this time around. We are actually playing with 6 batters, Mitchell McClenaghan is back. We have got Southee as well. Both Pandya brothers are in.”

Meanwhile, both the teams had a forgettable last season and they will be desperate to start the tenth edition on a good note. During the last season too, both the teams had kick started their campaign against each other with the Pune-based outfit getting the better of their fancied opponents. The Maharashtra rivals have have won a game each against each other.
Here is the playing XI of both the teams:

Rising Pune Supergaint:

Ajinkya Rahane, Mayank Agarwal, Steven Smith(c), Manoj Tiwary, MS Dhoni(w), Ben Stokes, Rajat Bhatia, Deepak Chahar, Adam Zampa, Imran Tahir, Ashok Dinda

Mumbai Indians:

Rohit Sharma(c), Parthiv Patel(w), Ambati Rayudu, Kieron Pollard, Nitish Rana, Jos Buttler, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Mitchell McClenaghan, Tim Southee, Jasprit Bumrah