Chennai Super Kings' MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bat first against Mumbai Indians in the first match of second half of IPL 2021 in Dubai on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma is not available due to a fitness issue. Mumbai is led by Kieron Pollard. Anmolpreet Singh makes his debut in the IPL for Mumbai. Hardik Pandya is also not playing.
Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, Josh Hazlewood and Moeen Ali are CSK's overseas players. All-rounder Sam Curran is unavailable due to mandatory hotel quarantine period.
Jasprit Bumrah is playing his 100th game for Mumbai in the IPL.
Jasprit Bumrah poses with his special jersey.
Image: BCCI
“We weren't so sure, so happy that I lost the toss. Rohit is okay, he'll be fine sooner rather than later, I'm just the captain for today. We started a couple of months back, and we were just starting to build the momentum with a couple of wins. Rohit misses out, Hardik is not playing as well. Anmolpreet makes his debut, that's about it, all others are regular players,” Pollard said at the toss.
“We will bat first, looks like a good wicket. Setting a target will be a better option. It's the same for everyone. I can't say if it's a good break or not. Once tournament starts, you get into some sort of rhythm but this season it's new and maybe us cricketers will start loving it. Seven games, then a break, and seven more. It comes down to how you play on that day in the shortest form. We'll try to do the basics right and focus on the process. Sam is not available. Faf, Moeen, Bravo and Josh are playing this game,” MS Dhoni said.
Going into the match on 19 September, Chennai Super Kings are second on the IPL points table while Mumbai Indians are fourth with 10 and 8 points respectively.
CSK led by MS Dhoni had a bad campaign last time when IPL was played in UAE but will be hoping to do better this time.
Earlier in the tournament, CSK had lost against MI in a high scoring game in New Delhi. MI had won the game by 4 wickets.
Mumbai Indians: Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan(w), Anmolpreet Singh, Kieron Pollard(c), Saurabh Tiwary, Krunal Pandya, Adam Milne, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult
Chennai Super Kings: Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood
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