In the battle of former champions, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) take on Mumbai Indians (MI) as MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bowl first in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023's clash at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday (April 8).
“We would have. It's a good pitch, always a good pitch to bat. Always something in it for the bowlers. We just have to play good cricket. We have been really well in the last few days, spoke about what went wrong in our last game in Bangalore, hopefully we can get the result tonight. Unfortunately we have got an injury, I would not call it an injury but it is just a precaution - Jofra is not playing, we have got the other guys. It is a great feeling to be back at the Wankhede. The crowds have always been loud, look forward to playing in front of our home crowd,” MI skipper Rohit Sharma said.
“We will bowl first. Think one of the most memorable venues not only the 2011 win but when we won in 2007, when we came back the reception we got was great. Generally got pace and bounce, you can play your shots We have a few injury concerns, Stokes has an injury, Mo is not available. Ajinkya and Pretorius are playing. These are the two changes we have made,” CSK captain Dhoni said after winning the toss.
MI lost their opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by eight wickets. CSK too lost their opening tie to defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) but bounced came back stronger in the second match and defeated Lucknow Super Giants.
Head-to-Head
Played: 36
Mumbai Indians: 21
Chennai Super Kings: 15
Pitch Report
“Short leg side boundary for the right hander, just 63m and the fine leg boundary is just 54m. Expect a lot of ramps today. The average score here in 2022 was 167, but teams will be hoping for more than that on a ground with these dimensions. However, if you remember CSK were bowled out here for 97 last year. There is a lot of grass, all the way through but no clear big patches. So the ball might do a little bit but if there’s dew it will slide on to the bat. Hoping for a really good cricket match but just wonder if the new ball will do a bit here,” Ian Bishop analysed the pitch.
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Tristan Stubbs, Arshad Khan, Hrithik Shokeen, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff.
Subs: Ramandeep Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Arjun Tendulkar, Kumar Karthikeya, Nehal Wadhera.
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Shivam Dube, Dwaine Pretorius, Deepak Chahar, Mitchell Santner, Sisanda Magala, Tushar Deshpande
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