Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to field first at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 Qualifier 2 agianst Gujarat Titans (GT). Rohit opted to field first not just because of their record while chasing but because of weather conditions as rain is expected to play spoilsport later on as well. Rohit made just one change to the winning combination. He dropped Hrithik Shokeen to include left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya in the side.
“We are gonna chase. The pitch looks a little sticky. We can make best use of the pitch. The pitch will get better as the game goes on. It's our comfort, what we want to do. We've chased well this season. This is a different team, we have a lot of new faces in the squad. As a team, we've come across many situations like this. It's important to put your best foot forward. There were a bit of nerves at the start of the tournament, but it's settled now. Just one change. Shokeen misses out, Kumar Kartikeya comes in,” Rohit said after winning the toss.
Hardik Pandya made two changes to the side after losing to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Chepauk earlier this week. Pandya dropped Sri Lankan T20 captain Dasun Shanaka and rookie pacer Darshan Nalkade to include Ireland pacer Josh Little and uncapped batter Sai Sudharsan.
“We would have bowled as well, but it's okay. Knockouts and qualifiers are fun, you have to be on your A game. It's important to enjoy. If we can play our everything, we'll be satisfied irrespective of the result. I know how the crowd is going to support us. Gujarati people are loyal. Yeah, full throttle(on whether he will bowl). Two changes. Little and Sai Sudharsan come in for Shanaka and Nalkande,” Pandya said at the coin toss.
Head-to-head
MI have an edge over GT with two wins out of three games they have played against each other. In GT's debut season, MI were the only side who beat them twice. GT registered their first win over MI this season. Playing at home, they beat MI by 55 runs.
GT Playing XI: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohit Sharma, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Shami
MI Playing XI: Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Chris Jordan, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal
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