Mumbai Indians (MI) Rohit Sharma scripted history the moment he entered the IS Bindra Stadium for the toss for the IPL clash against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Mohali on Wednesday (May 3).
The Hitman completed his 200 matches for five-time champions and with this he has become only the second player besides Kieron Pollard to have represented Paltans in most matches. Only Keiron Pollard (211) has played more matches for MI in their 16-year history.
After representing Deccan Chargers earlier, Rohit linked up with the Mumbai-based franchise in 2011 and then was handed the onus of captaincy in 2013. He has also led MI to IPL title glory five times. He won MI their maiden IPL title in the very first year when he was appointed as team's skipper
Most matches for Mumbai Indians in T20s
Kieron Pollard- 211
Rohit Sharma- 200
Harbhajan Singh- 158
Lasith Malinga - 139
Ambati Rayudu - 136
Jasprit Bumrah - 123
Talking about the match, Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bowl first against PBKS.
“I asked Shikhar Dhawan what to do. He said bowl first, so we will bowl first. It's a good pitch, we have chased down targets pretty well, so will stick to our strengths. You always want to have a score in front of you on such pitches. It's important to keep the balance, we have played enough IPL games, things can change quickly. You can see how tight the table is. It's important to focus on what we can do as a team. It's all about coming fresh into the game and try to execute your plans. We have one change, Merdith is injured. Akash is in,” MI captain Rohit said after winning the toss.
“We would have bowled first. I feel the wicket looks good, it's not dry, won't change much. It's good to bat first and post a big total, looking forward to it. We keep the energy calm and relaxed. Mentally you need to be relaxed, as a leader I need to make sure of it. Short and Ellis come in. Rabada is out,” PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan said after the toss.
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Cameron Green, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Jofra Archer, Piyush Chawla, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Arshad Khan.
MI impact subs: Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brevis, Vishnu Vinod, Ramandeep Singh, Tristan Stubbs.
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Prabhsimran Singh, Shikhar Dhawan(c), Matthew Short, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Sam Curran, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Rishi Dhawan, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh.
PBKS impact subs: Nathan Ellis, Sikandar Raza, Atharva Taide, Mohit Rathee, Shivam Singh.
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