MUMBAI: Mumbai Indians (MI) captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to field against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match here at the iconic Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
As things stand, both RCB and MI haven’t found their stride which allows them to take the momentum forward. RCB’s solitary win this season came against Punjab Kings while MI had a shaky start to the tournament amidst all the chaos but their win against Delhi Capitals will be spurring them into some upbeat action.
Will Jacks is all set to make his RCB debut as received his maiden cap by star batter Virat Kohli.
MI captain Pandya said, “We will bowl first. It looks like a similar track, but it might get better to bat on under lights. There was a bit of dew as well, so chasing could be a better option. The mood before and after the win was different, we’ll need to start well, put the pressure and then take the game forward. We got the highest score without anyone getting to 50, that gives you plenty of confidence. Bowling well in the powerplay was crucial. One change – Shreyas Gopal comes in place of Piyush Chawla.”
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper Faf du Plessis said, “We’ve tried to change things, so we’ve given chances to some of our players, some new players and it’s up to them to take the opportunity. It’s important to give players a decent run, but we’ve found ourselves in a stage where we haven’t done well, so it’s time to make changes. One thing that’s important is to be consistent and that’s where we’ve been disappointing. But we know we can turn this around. We would have fielded as well, chasing at this ground is the better option, but the pitch looks good. We’ve got three changes – Jacks debuts and he’ll come in at 3, Mahipal and Vyshak are back.”
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Mohammad Nabi, Shreyas Gopal, Jasprit Bumrah, Gerald Coetzee and Akash Madhwal.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Will Jacks, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik(w), Mahipal Lomror, Reece Topley, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep. (ANI)
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