Toss Update: PBKS Drop Kagiso Rabada, MI Add Akash Madhwal To Their Playing XI
Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan during toss [Source: IPLT20.com]
In a significant development, Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to bowl first against Punjab Kings in their ninth group-stage fixture of the ongoing Indian Premier League season. Furthermore, Mumbai have introduced young seamer Akash Madhwal into their playing XI, while the hosts have dropped Kagiso Rabada, replacing him with Australian speedster Nathan Ellis.
At toss, Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma took the obvious call to bowl first, considering the batter-friendly nature of the Mohali surface.
"We are bowling first. Look this is a good pitch. We want to see how it plays and stick to our strengths. Mohali is a high-scoring pitch as always. So we want to have a score in front of us. It's always important to keep the balance and feet on the ground. Things can change pretty quickly. You can see how the table is now and it's pretty tight. This is such a big tournament. We had a good chat about it as a group. It's about staying fresh and executing the plans we make. We have one change. Meredith hasn't pulled up well and he won't play. We have Akash Madhwal in place of him."
On the other hand, Punjab Kings captain Shikhar Dhawan revealed that they would've opted to chase for the same reason. He also explained how the support staff have worked tirelessly to keep the players fit in the tournament.
"We would have also bowled first. I feel the wicket looks really good, doesn't look that dry and I don't think it will change much. Even batting first and putting a total on board is good. We just keep calm and keep the energy good, the tournament is too big so we need to be mentally fit. The support staff makes sure that the players are mentally fit. We have two changes, Matt Short comes in place of Taide and Ellis comes in place of Rabada."
Punjab Kings Playing XI: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prabhsimran Singh, Matthew Short, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sam Curran, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Rishi Dhawan, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh
Impact Players: Nathan Ellis, Sikandar Raza, Atharva Taide, Mohit Rathee, Shivam Singh
Mumbai Indians Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Cameron Green, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Piyush Chawla, Jofra Archer, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Arshad Khan
Impact Players: Suryakumar Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Vishnu Vinod, Ramandeep Singh
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