IPL 2017: Lasith Malinga Sans Mumbai Indians Bowl; Virat Kohli Returns To Lead RCB, Gayle In For Watson
Apr 14, 2017 at 3:53 PM
Mumbai Indians won the toss and decided to field first in the first doubleheader of the day. There was one forced change in Mumbai Indias camps as an unwell Lasith Malinga was replaced by Tim Southee.
Virat Kohli made a comeback to lead the RCB side, coming in place of Vishnu Vinod. On the other hand, Shane Watson paved way for Chris Gayle, who will be looking to show his skills on his favourite ground in India. Apart from these, there was one more change in RCB camp as Samuel Badree will play his first game of this year’s IPL and the leggie replaced tall and lanky pacer Billy Stanlake in the side. Sreenath Aravind too came in the side at his home ground, replacing Iqbal Abdullah, keeping in mind the fact that the ball will not turn much on this batting-friendly wicket.
The contest seems to be a promising one with the comeback of Virat Kohli in the RCB side. A big total of expected in the both the innings, irrespective of the fact whether a team bat or field first.
Here is what captain said at the toss –
Virat Kohli: The wicket looks good to bat on. Shouldn’t change throughout the game. Would have bowled first as well. Good to be back on the field and we need to pull our socks and get back in the groove. Badree plays his first game for RCB. Shane Watson misses out too. Chris Gayle comes in.
Rohit Sharma: We will field first. The wicket is dry and I’m hoping that it will settle down once the lights come on. The last two games were brilliant, hoping to continue the momentum. I’m sure guys will respond well. Malinga is not fit. Southee comes in.
Here is the playing XI of both the sides –
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Virat Kohli(c), Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Kedar Jadhav(w), Mandeep Singh, Stuart Binny, Pawan Negi, Tymal Mills, Sreenath Aravind, Samuel Badree, Yuzvendra Chahal
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Parthiv Patel(w), Jos Buttler, Rohit Sharma(c), Nitish Rana, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Tim Southee, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah.