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The Mumbai Indians (MI) will be looking for an improvement in their bowling when they take on an impressive Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, April 25. All eyes will be on the MI death bowlers especially those who have not been in the best of form, as Rohit Sharma will hope to get back to winning ways against the defending Champions
After their usual bad start to the season, MI have returned somewhere close to their best but lost their last match to the Punjab Kings (PBKS). Meanwhile, GT beat LSG in what was a low-scoring affair.
About the toss, MI skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bowl first. Jofra Archer misses out after returning for the game against the PBKS. “saw the pitch, it was hard. They put a lot of water there. Want to make the best use of the conditions? Start well early on and see where the game is heading. Games like that happen, we made some errors and we accepted that. It's important how you come back from that situation, that's critical. We had a good chat and hopefully, we can turn things around.”
GT skipper Hardik Pandya also expects a better performance from his team, “The way we fought back, the last game we won but LSG dominated for 36 overs. Credit to the boys the way we came back. We showed what is never give up. Luck was on our side."
Head to Head:
Mumbai and Gujarat faced off once last season, with MI winning the close match by five runs.
Pitch report:
About the pitch, former Chennai Super Kings batter Matthew Hayden had his say, "The highest number of sixes on an average has been hit at this venue along with Eden Gardens. This isn't the smallest of venues either. Square boundaries - 63 metres and 68 metres, straight down the ground it's 74 metres. It's unusually humid here. On the wicket, it's moist, not tacky in any way but certainly got some moisture in it. Don't be surprised if the fastmen do come into play in the powerplay.
"Even though it's red soil, I think it'll bounce traditionally but it'll just grip a little bit because of the extra moisture in it. The batters through the middle will be finding it very difficult this evening. Dew hasn't had a massive effect so far. It's overcast, chances are it (dew) might not have tonight either. Six out of six games - chasing teams have won."
Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya(c), Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Kumar Kartikeya, Arjun Tendulkar, Riley Meredith, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff
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