Mumbai Indians won the toss and decided to bowl first at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Lasith Malinga, who missed the last game due to health issues has replaced Tim Southee for this game.
Gujarat Lions too had a couple of changes in their side. Aaron Finch, who lost his kit bag sits out, making way for England’s Jason Roy, whereas, Shadab Jakati was replaced by pacer Munaf Patel, who will play his first game of the season.
Rohit decided to bat keeping in mind the dew factor, which will aid the home side in the last 10 overs of the game, the captain reckoned.
A good total is expected out of this game with the team batting second possessing an advantage, undoubtedly.
Both Gujarat and Mumbai are coming with a win in the previous game and will look to conquer the win in this crucial contest.
Here is what both the captains said at the toss –
Suresh Raina:
“We just need to start well. We’ve been chasing well. Last game, we batted well. We’ll look to score and see what happens. The wicket looks pretty dry. It might get slower. Hopefully, we post a good score and defend. We have 2 changes. Jason Roy and Munaf Patel come in for Finch and Jakati.”
Rohit Sharma:
“We are gonna field first. Wicket looks pretty dry. We are expecting some dew in the last 10 overs. We’ve got only one change. Malinga comes in for Southee. We always wanted to start well. We’re happy with the way the things are going on. We’ve come out and expressed ourselves.”
Here is the playing XI of both the teams –
Gujarat Lions Playing XI: Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Jason Roy, Suresh Raina(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Andrew Tye, Basil Thampi, Munaf Patel
Mumbai Indians Playing XI: Parthiv Patel(w), Jos Buttler, Rohit Sharma(c), Nitish Rana, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah.