IPL 2022: Ayush Badoni starts for Lucknow, Abhinav Manohar in for Gujarat

Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and chose to bowl first against KL Rahul’s Lucknow Super Giants at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday.

Talking after the toss Pandya said that he would want to see ‘how exactly the wickets are playing and keeping the dew factor as well’. 

“First game we want to see . We wanted to see, assess and go through from there,” he said. 

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The junior Pandya brother was a part of the Mumbai Indians for seven seasons. He was let go by the franchise in 2022. The 28-year-old has ample experience of playing at the Wankhede Stadium. 

“It is always special to play in Wankhede because I have had some amazing memories here. It is a different role, different team but the feeling is same. We want to win here and let’s see how it goes,” he said. 

Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson, Matthew Wade and David Miller are the four overseas players who will play for the Gujarat Titans. 

Also read: IPL 2022: Hardik Pandya wants to emulate MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar ahead of captaincy debut

Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul said that he too wanted to bowl first. 

“I think it is pretty straightforward when you play in Wankhede, everyone wants to bowl first. The dew plays a big part in the second innings but the wicket remains the same throughout 40 overs. It is our first game and it is important to go out there and enjoy ourselves,” he said. 

Also read: KL Rahul, Quinton De Kock ‘devastating opening pair’ for Lucknow Super Giants: Sunil Gavaskar

Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): KL Rahul(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Evin Lewis, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan

Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade(w), Vijay Shankar, Abhinav Manohar, Hardik Pandya(c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Aaron, Mohammed Shami