News from the toss – Suryakumar Yadav, still leading in Hardik Pandya’s absence, asked Lucknow Super Giants to bat first at the Wankhede. Hardik woke up with back spasms, the kind of thing that can vanish overnight or linger for a fortnight, so nobody at MI wanted to chance it.
The good news for the home crowd is the return of Rohit Sharma after five matches out with a tight hamstring. He starts on the bench, earmarked as the Impact Player once Mumbai chase.
Mumbai shuffled the pack to cover Hardik. Out went Robin Minz and left-arm quick Trent Boult; in came South African seamer Corbin Bosch and youngster Raj Angad Bawa, who gets his first appearance of the season.
Lucknow, sitting one spot above Mumbai near the foot of the table, have had a week to stew on a poor start. Coach and captain used the break to tweak the XI. Australia’s Josh Inglis landed yesterday, passed the short fitness check and walks straight in. Uncapped finisher Mukul Choudhary drops out, replaced by Madhya Pradesh batter Akshat Raghuwanshi.
Rishabh Pant talked openly about the mood. “It’s been a tough season for us and there is no running away from that, but one person for us has the most difficult time was our owner Mr. Goenka. Everyone knows how passionate he is about cricket and about his team. But at the same time, we let down our fans down. The only promise is from this break is, we’re going to give our 200%, try to bring that happiness back and hopefully we can do it for our owner and the fans for sure.”
Pre-match voices
Ambati Rayudu, eyeing the surface, said, “Wankhede surface a golden opportunity for LSG,” hinting at carry for the quicks and true bounce for strokemakers.
Former New Zealand keeper Katey Martin felt Mumbai’s batting needed to loosen up: MI must be “free in the way they play”, she reckoned.
The numbers
• MI sit 10th, LSG 9th – both on four points, separated only by net run-rate.
• Bumrah has 11 wickets in the powerplay this year, more than any other bowler.
• Inglis is the third overseas player signed for INR 8 crore-plus by LSG who debuts mid-campaign.
Playing XIs
LSG: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), Josh Inglis, Nicholas Pooran, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Himmat Singh, Mohammed Shami, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, Prince Yadav. Impact options: M Siddharth, Digvesh Rathi, Mayank Yadav, Shahbaz Ahmed, Abdul Samad.
MI: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Tilak Varma, Will Jacks, Raj Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, AM Ghazanfar, Raghu Sharma. Impact options: Rohit Sharma, Mayank Rawat, Robin Minz, Shardul Thakur, Trent Boult.
What to expect
Humidity, some dew, and a pitch likely to quicken under lights. Teams batting second have chased down 180-plus three times here already, which explains Suryakumar’s decision. Still, with both sides struggling, 160 might feel plenty if early wickets tumble.
Nothing season-defining tonight, but whoever loses will be propping up the table alone. For now, Rohit is padded up, Hardik in the dug-out tracksuit, and Inglis is trying to remember which dressing-room corridor turns left to the nets.
