Sharjah: Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to field against Rajasthan Royals in the 51st match of the IPL 2021 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, here Tuesday.
Mumbai, who are currently sitting on seventh place on the points table, made two changes in their playing XI as Ishan Kishan and James Neesham came in place of Quinton de Kock and Krunal Pandya, for this match.
“We have tried everything in this UAE leg, we have tried batting first, we have tried bowling first. The wicket here doesn’t change too much, so we thought let’s have a target in front of us when we bat. We know where we stand at the moment. Every individual knows what they need to do. It’s about coming here and executing,” said MI skipper Sharma at the toss.
“We need to read situations, not to worry about the table, if we play well the results will take care of itself. We looked at how the game is being played here. The pacers have done well with the slower balls,” he added.
On the other hand, the Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals also made two change — bringing in Shreyas Gopal and Kuldip Yadav in place of Mayank Markande and Akash Singh for this important clash.
“We face different challenges in each game. We have a decent combination which can suit this wicket. Looking forward to an exciting game. We have to keep it simple, will have to trust ourselves,” said Samson at the toss.
Playing XI:
Rajasthan Royals: Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Shivam Dube, Glenn Phillips, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Kuldip Yadav, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jayant Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult