Jaipur: Rajasthan Royals newly appointed skipper Steve Smith opted to field first after winning the toss against Rohit Sharma's Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League encounter on Saturday. The match between RR and MI is being played at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
In the last game between these two teams, Rajasthan managed to beat Mumbai at their home ground.
While Rajasthan lost their last match to Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai is coming into the match after thrashing Delhi Capitals in their own backyard.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals have sacked their skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Australia's Steve Smith has been named his replacement.
At the toss, Smith said, "We'll bowl first as I'm not sure of the wicket, what it's going to do. Chasing would be a good option. Ajinkya has done a terrific job in the last one and a half year and the team management thinks there's a ned for a change. I have done a bit of leadership in the IPL with a bit of success, hopefully I can lead the team well. Plenty of games coming up in the next few days. We got three changes, I come in for Buttler who's gone back for the birth of his child, Stokes is back in the team in place of Ish (Sodhi) and Riyag Parag comes in for Tripathi."
Rohit Sharma said, "There's no grass on this side, bit of grass covering on the other side, looks a bit strange. I was going to bat first as well, because we have defended well as a team. It doesn't matter if we win games or lose games, there's always room for improvement. There have been different individuals who have stepped up and that's been a good thing. We've got one change, we are playing to the conditions. Also they've a lot of right handers, hence Mayank Markande comes in for Jayant Yadav."
Teams:
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Ben Cutting, Rahul Chahar, Mayank Markande, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Sanju Samson(w), Ajinkya Rahane, Steven Smith(c), Ben Stokes, Ashton Turner, Stuart Binny, Riyan Parag, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni