Hyderabad, Mar 27 (IANS): Five-time champions Mumbai Indians have won the toss and elected to bowl first against Sunrisers Hyderabad in match eight of IPL 2024 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Wednesday.

Both teams faced losses in their tournament opening games – MI lost to Gujarat Titans by six runs, while SRH faced a four-defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders. The two teams now square off against each other in Hyderabad’s first game of IPL 2024 in a bid to get off the mark in the points table.

Wednesday’s match is also Rohit Sharma’s 200th game for MI, making him the third player to make 200 IPL appearances for a single franchise after Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni. After winning the toss, MI skipper Hardik Pandya said teenaged South Africa fast-bowler Kwena Maphaka makes his IPL debut in place of fellow pacer Luke Wood, who is out due to a niggle.

Maphaka was the Player of the Tournament in this year’s Men’s U19 World Cup held in South Africa, picking 21 wickets from six games at an average of 9.71 and economy rate of 3.81.

“Looks like a good track, we were solid in the last game. Didn't plan properly, that cost us the game. 13 games to go, we need to keep doing the right things. We are positive and looking forward to the challenge. Just trying to spend time with all the players. Getting to know them better,” said Hardik.

Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins said left-handed opener Travis Head comes in for fast-bowling all-rounder Marco Jansen, while Jaydev Unadkat comes in for fellow left-arm pacer T Natarajan, who misses out due to a niggle.

“Looks like a good wicket. Not too upset. It's a tough tournament, the crowd and conditions will help. We got a great squad, the 11 or 12 players playing tonight got to give their everything,” he said.

Playing XIs

Mumbai Indians: Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (captain), Tim David, Gerald Coetzee, Shams Mulani, Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah and Kwena Maphaka

Substitutes: Dewald Brevis, Romario Shepherd, Mohammad Nabi, Vishnu Vinod and Nehal Wadhera

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head, Mayank Agarwal, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen (wicketkeeper), Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins (captain), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande and Jaydev Unadkat

Substitutes: Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Umran Malik, Glenn Phillips and Upendra Yadav