Chennai: Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore have won the toss and elected to bowl first against Rohit Sharma's Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) season opener on Friday at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium here.
Kohli will open for his team after his successful run as an opener against England in the recently-concluded series that India won.
The pitch is a typical Chennai wicket where spinners are expected to get a lot of turn and deviation. However, the new ball is said to come nicely on the bat and the batsmen will look to make the most of it.
Three players -- Glenn Maxwell, Kyle Jamieson and Daniel Christian will make their debut for the RCB team.
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A look at the Playing XI for #MIvRCB
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">A look at the Playing XI for #MIvRCB
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Follow the game here - https://t.co/9HI54vpf2I #VIVOIPL https://t.co/6FVNP58vYI pic.twitter.com/HaknmSE9d2A look at the Playing XI for #MIvRCB
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"It's unbelievable, bit of a mini-break helped me I guess to win a toss. Going to bowl first. They're a side who likes chasing. Good chance for us to get onto the park and create some intensity. With the balance we have this year we can do both, but have to understand who you're playing against. We understand with the depth they have they have never out of the game. Bowling first was a no-brainer for us. Every year IPL has a different energy, a different vibe. It's high intensity. Playing for the same franchise has been an honour for me. Loyalty is a big thing for me. Dubai was great as well but this just feels like home. Great feeling to be playing in our stadiums and for people to watch in our prime times. Three guys making their debut: Maxwell, Jamieson, Christian is back after eight years for the same franchise," the RCB captain said.
On the other hand, Rohit Sharma said, "Would've fielded first as well. But as a team we've batted well over the years. Nothing different for us. Bat well in the powerplay and set the game up for the big hitters. The entire square has been changed. Recently played a couple of Tests. Need to do what we do as a team, put our best foot forward. For us it's a fresh year, don't need to look at what's happened in the past. Fresh year, new faces as well. Important for us to start well which we haven;t done in this tournament. Last game we played was a final in Dubai. Got only two changes from that lineup. Quinny is in quarantine, so he isn't available. Lynn will make debut. And we have a six foot eight inch South African, Marco Jensen."
For Mumbai's team, Chris Lynn will make his debut for the team and opener Quinton de Kock will not feature in the match as he is in quarantine. Ishan Kishan will keep the wickets for the team.
Teams:
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma (capt), Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Marco Jansen, Jayant Yadav, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Virat Kohli(c), Rajat Patidar, AB de Villiers(w), Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Christian, Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal
