Mumbai Indians (MI) take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl first in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 clash at the iconic Wankhede stadium on March 31.
What did the captains say?
After winning the toss, MI captain Hardik Pandya, said:
We gonna bowl first, looks like a good track. Knowing Wankhede, dew may or may not come in. There might be some early swing, it plays well so we thought chasing is a good option. We want to get into good rhythm and kickstart. Overall, we want to play better cricket, we need to stay calm. Will Jacks comes back and we have a debutant - Ashwani Kumar.
Meanwhile, after losing the toss KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane said:
"We wanted to bowl first as well but I was confused looking at the wicket, generally Wankede is a good batting surface so I feel it's a good toss to lose. There's a little breeze going on, no dew factor to deal with. We will look to post a good total on the board and I have confidence in our bowlers to defend. We are playing good cricket, every games gives a good opportunity to play good cricket. Lovely ground, we are looking to play good cricket. Sunil comes in in place of Mooen."
Mumbai Indians' playing XI
Ryan Rickelton, Will Jacks(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Ashwani Kumar, Vignesh Puthur
Mumbai Indians Impact Subs: Rohit Sharma, Corbin Bosch, Raj Bawa, Robin Minz, Satyanarayana Raju
Kolkata Knight Riders' playing XI
Quinton de Kock(w), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy
Kolkata Knight Riders Impact Subs: Anrich Nortje, Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey, Vaibhav Arora, Luvnith Sisodia
Pitch Report:
"We have an absolute belter. We have a beautiful covering of grass and underneath it's really hard, it means it's a batter's paradise. I'm looking forward to the spin twins, Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine. The better bowlers always find a way to defend on these kind of surfaces. But, the faster and faster you bowl, the farther you will travel. You are playing dead-center of the ground and you have options to play with. A bouncer is a good option to suprise batters and to not allow them to line you up," Eoin Morgan and Nick Knight analysed the pitch.
MI vs KKR's head-to-head record in IPL:
Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders have locked horns with each other 34 times in IPL so far. Out of 34 encounters, Mumbai have won 23 games while KKR have emerged victorious on 11 occasions.