The all revamped and confident Rajasthan Royals (RR) take on five-time title-holders Mumbai Indians (MI) as the Rohit Sharma-led side won the toss and decided to bowl in their IPL 2022's second match on Saturday (April 2) at DY Patil stadium.
As far as playing XIs are concerned, RR brought in Navdeep Saini in place of Nathan Coulter-Nile while MI kept their side unchanged.
"We have to be happy with that (batting first). We would also have bowled on this wicket, being an afternoon and a different venue, but happy to bat. Chatter in the camp is to be a bit smarter. We are playing different teams in different conditions, different venues, so it is all about understanding the demands and applying your game plan accordingly. Standards have to be kept throughout the tournament. We did a good job in the auctions to get a very strong squad. We have one change Navdeep Saini has come in for Coulter-Nile," RR skipper Sanju Samson said before the match.
"We are going to bowl first. No particular reason. It is a good pitch, we are seeing a trend in the tournament, you have a score in front of you and you know what to do as a batting group. Dew is not going to be a factor. We just felt it is a good pitch, lets have a score in front of us and see what we do as a batting group. We are here to correct our wrongs. Every game gives us an opportunity to do that. We are a young team and learning from every game is what we are trying to do. Same team," Rohit Sharma said.
In the previous encounter, a new-look and re-energised RR attacked from the outset and inflicted on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) a 61-run hammering to begin their campaign in IPL 2022 on a high. On the other hand, MI lost their IPL opener to Delhi Capitals by four wickets.
Meanwhile, MI captain Rohit Sharma has the most runs against RR in the current MI squad. Rohit has 526 runs in 24 matches. Sanju Samson is the batter with the most runs against MI from the current RR squad with 491 runs to his name.
Head-to-Head
Mumbai Indians have an advantage over Rajasthan Royals when it comes to the head-to-head record between the two sides in the IPL. Mumbai Indians have won 13 out of 25 matches against Rajasthan Royals while RR have won 11.
Pitch report
Third game at the DY Patil Stadium and it is a third new pitch, a fresh pitch. We have seen two different scores here, the first game saw a score in excess of 200 while the second was below 130, the reason being the bounce. This (new pitch) is a good one to bat on. There will be runs scored but like in the previous pitch the lengths will be the key. If the bowlers hit the right lengths then the batters will find it a little bit tougher.
Mumbai Indians' playing XI:
Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Anmolpreet Singh, Tilak Varma, Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Daniel Sams, Murugan Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Tymal Mills, Basil Thampi.
Rajasthan Royals' playing XI:
Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, Navdeep Saini, Prasidh Krishna.
