Jasprit Bumrah is back. And going to be in action immediately as Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to chase against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Bumrah last played in the New Year's Test in Sydney, where he walked off with a back injury. Also making a comeback was India's full-time captain for that Test series, Rohit Sharma, who missed MI's previous game with a knee injury. He was not in the bowling first XI but was almost certain to be the Impact Player in the chase.
RCB would have fielded first as well despite a soothing sea breeze at the Wankhede Stadium, which is believed to make dew unlikely. RCB made no change to the side that lost to Gujarat Titans five days ago.
With two wins in three games, RCB started the clash at No. 3 on the points table. MI desperately needed the return of Bumrah after three losses in the first four matches. Two of the most followed IPL teams, these sides have not made for a close head-to-head contest. MI lead RCB 21-13 in contests against each other. However, RCB have won four of the last six matches against MI. At Wankhede, MI have won the last six matches against RCB.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 1 Phil Salt, 2 Virat Kohli, 3 Devdutt Padikkal, 4 Rajat Patidar (capt), 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Tim David, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Yash Dayal
RCB substitutes Rasikh Salam, Suyash Sharma, Swatik Chitara, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh
Mumbai Indians 1 Ryan Rickelton (wk), 2 Will Jacks, 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt), 6 Naman Dhir, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Deepak Chahar, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Vignesh Puthur
MI substitutes Rohit Sharma, Corbin Bosch, Ashwani Kumar, Raj Bawa, Robin Minz