Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to field first against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. There was a slight delay in the coin toss as one of the floodlights had gone off.
Rohit made one major change in the side. He dropped all-rounder Kieron Pollard on his birthday to hand the debut cap to 21-year-old Tristan Stubbs from South Africa. Also, he brought back Hrithik Shokeen in place of Murugan Ashwin.
“It's the nature of the ground, and what suits our team. Nothing has worked for us this season. Keep an eye on the future, Pollard is out and Stubbs is in. Shokeen comes in for Ashwin. He was the one who came up to us and he was ready for it. We want to try out a few players, got to see what they have to offer. Looks a good track, hope it plays well throughout the 40 overs. It's brilliant to play against Chennai, it's always like that. We need to try and win the game,” Rohit said after winning the toss.
On the other hand, MS Dhoni did not make any changes to the winning combination. However, he talked about the importance of former skipper Ravindra Jadeja in the team after he got ruled out of the clash.
“It has worked for us, batting first. We are playing with the same team. Someone like a Jaddu, he is one of those who helps us try out different combinations. It's tough to replace him, don't think anyone can field better, no replacement in that aspect. When a lot of is at stake, you need to do the homework and focus on the process, irrespective of the opposition,” Dhoni said ahead of the must-win clash.
Earlier this month, Stubbs joined the MI squad for his base price of Rs 20 lakh as injured Tymal Mills replacement.
CSK XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni(w/c), Dwayne Bravo, Maheesh Theekshana, Simarjeet Singh, Mukesh Choudhary
MI XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Tilak Varma, Tristan Stubbs, Ramandeep Singh, Tim David, Daniel Sams, Kumar Kartikeya, Hrithik Shokeen, Jasprit Bumrah, Riley Meredith
