IPL 2022: Mumbai Indians win toss, elect to bowl first against Rajasthan Royals

Navi Mumbai, April 2

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma has won the toss and elected to bowl first against Rajasthan Royals in the ninth match of IPL 2022 at the DY Patil Stadium here on Saturday.

After winning the toss, Sharma confirmed no changes to the playing eleven from the four-wicket loss to Delhi Capitals. It meant that middle-order batter Suryakumar Yadav, who recovered from a hairline fracture in the thumb during the third T20I against the West Indies, didn't come into the playing eleven.

"No particular reason (on bowling first). 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," stated Sharma.

Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson said pacer Navdeep Saini has replaced an injured Australia all-rounder Nathan Coulter-Nile in the playing eleven from their 61-run win against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

"We have to be happy with that (on 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," said Samson.

Playing XIs

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Tilak Varma, Anmolpreet Singh, Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Daniel Sams, Murugan Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Tymal Mills and Basil Thampi

Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (captain & wicketkeeper), Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna.