Rajasthan win toss, ask Mumbai Indians to bat first

Mumbai, April 13 (IANS) Rajasthan Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane has won the toss and decided to bowl first. Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma says that he is fit to go and the rest in the previous game was more a precaution.

Reporting on the pitch, Simon Doull said: "It's been an absolute belter here this season. The pitch is so hard, lots of grass, it only adds to pace and bounce. It's a bat first wicket, put the runs on the board and then field when it's a lot cooler."

Speaking at the toss, Rahane said: "We will bowl first. Not sure how this pitch will play, but it will get better under lights. We have been playing some good cricket, but in T20s, we need to play well in the crunch situations. We have a few changes. Stokesky is injured and replaced by Liam Livingstone, Gowtham is back as well."

MI have made just one change with skipper Rohit Sharma back in place of Siddesh Lad. "It's a 4 p.m. game, should help the spinners. The pitch shouldn't be much of a factor. We need to play some good cricket, we are on a roll as a team and need to continue doing it. One change for us, I am back in place of Siddesh, who is unlucky to miss out. He looked good the other day, but this is a long tournament and he should get more chances in the future," he said.

Teams:

Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Alzarri Joseph, Rahul Chahar, Jason Behrendorff, Jasprit Bumrah

Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane(c), Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w), Steven Smith, Rahul Tripathi, Liam Livingstone, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni