MI vs KKR: No Rohit Sharma in Mumbai Indians' playing XI for the first time under Hardik Pandya's captaincy

Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and made one change to the team combination by dropping Mohammad Nabi for Naman Dhir. However, former MI skipper Rohit Sharma’s name was missing from the playing XI after Pandya opted to bowl at Wankhede Stadium against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Rohit has been named in the list of impact subs for the home side. 
 

This will be the first time Rohit will play as an impact player. Apart from him, Shams Mulani, Shivalik Sharma, Dewald Brevis and Romario Shepherd are other players in the impact subs list for the five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions.
 

MI Playing XI: Ishan Kishan(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Nehal Wadhera, Hardik Pandya(c), Naman Dhir, Tim David, Gerald Coetzee, Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah, Nuwan Thushara
 

“We will bowl. It's always about playing for pride, it looks quite tough for us but at the same time, we want to play good cricket, feels good to be back home. Looks like a good track, it's a fresh wicket so thought that bowling first will be good. Only one change, Naman Dhir comes in place of Nabi,” the 30-year-old all-rounder said at the coin toss. 
 

Rohit has been in decent form in the season. He has scored 315 runs from 10 games at an average of 35 including one century. He has yet to score a half-century in IPL 2024. His strike rate in the tournament is an impressive 158.29.
 

Meanwhile, Pandya included just three overseas players in the side after dropping Nabi. 

 

KKR Playing XI: Philip Salt(w), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy

 

Impact Subs: Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey, Srikar Bharat, Sherfane Rutherford, Chetan Sakariya
 

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