Batting legend and Mumbai Indian mentor Sachin Tendulkar assisted leading paceman Jasprit Bumrah in picking the new ball ahead of the mega clash against Rajasthan Royals at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
Tendulkar, one of the game’s geniuses, stood with Bumrah and Akash Madhwal as he checked the balls and gave some valuable inputs to the two pacemen.
The legendary batter also assessed the pitch alongside former MI skipper Rohit Sharma ahead of the match as they are desperate to get some points on the table after losing the first two matches.
Hardik Pandya’s tenure as MI captain started on a poor note with the team losing against Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Their bowling misfired badly versus SRH as they went on to concede 277 runs – the highest score in the tournament history.
Meanwhile, Mumbai returned to their homeground Wankhede Stadium to play their first home game of the season. The five-time champions also became the first team to play 250 IPL matches with the RR clash.
RR skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to bowl against Pandya’s MI on Monday.
While MI decided to include Akash Madhwal in their playing XI in place of Shams Mulani after his poor show against the Sunrisers in the last match.
“We were planning to bowl first. It’s quite exciting to be a part of this game. We always look forward to the future, need to follow the process. Looking forward to playing a brand of cricket everyone enjoys,” said Pandya after the toss.
Meanwhile, RR brought in Nandre Burger in place of Sandeep Sharma, who is not fit.
The two teams are coming into the match following contrasting results. While RR have registered two wins so far, MI have lost both their matches to lie at the bottom of the points table.
MI vs RR Playing XIs
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (w/c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Nandre Burger, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Ishan Kishan (w), Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Gerald Coetzee, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Jasprit Bumrah, Kwena Maphaka.
