IPL 2024: Hardik Pandya elects to bowl as Mumbai Indians go unchanged against CSK

Mumbai, April 14: Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to bowl first against Chennai Super Kings in Match 29 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Wankhede Stadium here on Sunday.

Pandya said the dew could be a big factor in the later half of the match and therefore a major reason for his decision. He expects this surface to play better than the one on which the RCB game was played.

Mumbai went into the match unchanged from the Playing XI that defeated Royal Challengers Bengaluru at this same venue.

CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad said he, too, would have liked to bowl first on this track.

Chennai Super Kings have made one change in their Playing XI, bringing in Matheesha Pathirana for Mahesh Theekshana.

While Mumbai are looking to win the match and move up in the table, their former skipper Rohit Sharma is eyeing a milestone. He needs three more sixes to become the first Indian batsman to smash 500 sixes in T20 cricket.

The list is led by West Indies legend Chris Gayle, who had smashed 1056 sixes in 463 matches. Rohit's former Mumbai Indians' teammate and current batting coach Kieron Pollard is second with 812 maximums in 625 matches.

Playing XIs:

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Tilak Vrama, Time David, Mohd Nabi, Romario Shepherd, Shreyas Gopal, Akash Madhwal Jasprit Bumrah, Gerland Coetzee

Subs: Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brewis, Naman Dhir, Nehal Wadhera, Harvik

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rachin Ravindran, Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Ajinkya Rahane, Sameer Rizvi, M.S. Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Mustafizur Rahman

Subs: Matheesha Pathirana, Sindhi, Mitchell Santner, Moeen Ali, Adil Rasheed