Pune, Apr 9 (IANS): Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis has won the toss and elected to bowl first against Mumbai Indians in match 18 of IPL 2022 at the MCA Stadium, here on Saturday.
Bangalore are coming in from their second win of the league against Rajasthan Royals while Mumbai are looking to end their winless run in the tournament.
After winning the toss, du Plessis confirmed that swashbuckling Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell comes into the playing eleven in place of Sherfane Rutherford. "Maxwell is back, been really good for RCB. Replaces Rutherford. Will slot into the No. 4 position, that middle period he is a very good player of spin."
Amid loud chants of 'RCB, RCB' in the stadium, du Plessis explained his decision to bowl first in Bangalore's first match of IPL 2022 at Pune. "It's our first game here so not sure what it will do. Stadiums are putting grass initially to protect surfaces. Hopefully there's dew later."
"For me the pleasing thing was that we managed to get across in games that have had pressure. DK (Dinesh Karthik) is going really well, it's the role and clarity that we've given DK that will give him some consistency."
Mumbai Indians' skipper Rohit Sharma said left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat and right-handed batter plus pacer Ramandeep Singh come in for Tymal Mills and Daniel Sams.
"We wanted to bowl first too, due to the trend and nature of the pitch. It (pitch) gets better as the game goes on. We know we have to play good cricket to win, whether we bat first or bowl first doesn't matter. We need to apply ourselves more than before."
Sharma expressed happiness over batter Suryakumar Yadav's return from the match against Kolkata with a 36-ball 52. "All games you play are big games. You want to get some momentum with a win, we've been looking for it for three games. A first win would be nice tonight. (Suryakumar) He's a quality player. Strengthens are batting with him coming back. We look forward to the same not only from him but everyone else."
Playing XIs
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Kieron Pollard, Ramandeep Singh, Murugan Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Jaydev Unadkat and Basil Thampi
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (captain), Anuj Rawat, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), David Willey, Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj