Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and chose to field first against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati on Tuesday. The decision set up what is expected to be an 11-over contest, with the powerplay scheduled for 3.2 overs.
For MI, the skipper returned to the XI after missing the previous outing versus Delhi Capitals, while Trent Boult also came back into the playing group. Rajasthan, meanwhile, kept faith with the same side that took the field earlier.
At the toss, Hardik explained that his choice was driven by the conditions. “We’re going to bowl first,” he said. “It has been under covers, and in rain-affected games you should bat second. It gives you a clearer sense of what the total should be.” He also acknowledged that weather thoughts have been part of the planning. “Yes, that’s always been at the back of the mind. It’s just the start of the season and we’re bound to make mistakes; you don’t win the IPL in the first couple of weeks. I come back, Boulty is back,” Hardik added.
Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag said his side would have made a similar call if the match situation had allowed. “We would have done the same thing, actually,” Parag remarked. “The pitch was supposed to be dry, but then it rained a lot. It is what it is. We’ve had two different types of games, but we’re really happy with how the boys handled the pressure. Same team for us.”
Playing XIs
Rajasthan Royals: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (w), Riyan Parag (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (w), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c), Naman Dhir, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, AM Ghazanfar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah.
