IPL 2021: Rohit Sharma misses out, Kieron Pollard to lead MI vs CSK

Mumbai Indians‘ regular captain Rohit Sharma misses out on the opening match of the second leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. The Mumbai-based franchise opened their IPL 2021 campaign against the Chennai Super Kings. In his absence, West Indian Kieron Pollard will be leading the side just for today.

In a big blow to the Mumbai-based franchise, apart from Rohit, they will also be missing the services of all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

As far as the match is concerned, Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat.

Talking about losing the toss, Pollard said that he wasn’t sure about the toss and that he was happy to lose it.

Giving an update on Rohit’s injury and on the team news, the MI stand-in captain said: “Rohit is okay, he’ll be fine sooner rather than later, I’m just the captain for today. We started a couple of months back, and we were just starting to build the momentum with a couple of wins. Rohit misses out, Hardik is not playing as well. Anmolpreet makes his debut, that’s about it, all others are regular players.”

About winning the toss, the CSK captain said: “We will bat first, looks like a good wicket. Setting a target will be a better option. It’s the same for everyone. I can’t say if it’s a good break or not.”

“Once the tournament starts, you get into some sort of rhythm but this season it’s new and maybe we cricketers will start loving it. Seven games, then a break, and seven more. It comes down to how you play on that day in the shortest form,” he added.

“We’ll try to do the basics right and focus on the process. Sam is not available. Faf, Moeen, Bravo and Josh are playing this game,” Dhoni gave an update on the team news.

Playing XI from both teams (from):

Mumbai Indians: Quinton de Kock(w), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Anmolpreet Singh, Kieron Pollard(c), Saurabh Tiwary, Krunal Pandya, Adam Milne, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult.

Chennai Super Kings: Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood.