Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders are facing each other in the 51st match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. MI have won the toss and opted to bowl first even as Hardik Pandya informed that the five-time champions have made one change to their playing XI dropping Mohammad Nabi and replacing him with Naman Dhir.
However, Rohit Sharma is not part of the playing XI and is likely to play as an impact player but MI have also fielded three overseas players. Meanwhile, KKR will miss Harshit Rana as he has been suspended for one match for breaching the code of conduct.
Rohit not being part of playing XI is a huge news but surprisingly, Hardik didn't inform anything related to former MI skipper. "It's always about playing for pride, it looks quite tough for us but at the same time, we want to play good cricket, feels good to be back home. Looks like a good track, it's a fresh wicket so thought that bowling first will be good," he said at the toss.
KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer highlighted the importance of continuing to do well in a tournament like IPL. KKR have 12 points to their name and will be keen on taking one more step towards playoffs by winning this game. "It's always about doing the small things well, obviously the dew is a factor but we have to keep that out of mind. The message is clear, each one of them knows their role and responsibility," he said.
Playing XIs:
Mumbai Indians: Ishan Kishan(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Nehal Wadhera, Hardik Pandya(c), Naman Dhir, Tim David, Gerald Coetzee, Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah, Nuwan Thushara
Impact Subs: Rohit Sharma, Shams Mulani, Shivalik Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Romario Shepherd.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Philip Salt(w), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy
Impact Subs: Chetan Sakariya, Anukul Roy, Sherfane Rutherford, KS Bharat, Manish Pandey
