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Hardik Pandya Returns as Mumbai Indians Bowl in 11-Overs-a-Side Contest

Arjun Mehta · · 2 min read
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Hardik Pandya Returns as Mumbai Indians Bowl in 11-Overs-a-Side Contest

After a delay of more than three hours due to persistent rain, Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and chose to field against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati.

The match was reduced to 11 overs a side, with a 3.2-over powerplay. There was continuous rain in Guwahati for more than four hours, with the toss finally taking place at 9.55pm local time and play starting at 10.10pm.

Team Lineups and Strategies

The most important news from the MI camp was the return of Hardik Pandya, who missed the game against Delhi Capitals due to illness. With the surface under covers for a while, the ball is expected to move around early. Trent Boult came back into the side, with Corbin Bosch and Mitchell Santner missing out. Legspinner Mayank Markande also missed out.

AM Ghazanfar was also included in the starting XI, with MI opting for three overseas players first up. Sherfane Rutherford is expected to be the Impact Player.

Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag also wanted to bowl, but didn’t expect the moisture to play that big a role. RR are going with an unchanged side. They could bring in Ravi Bishnoi as Impact Player, but fast bowler Brijesh Sharma is also an option in case the surface is not conducive to spin.

Recent Performance and Expectations

RR are coming into the game eyeing a hat-trick of wins and a chance to move to the top of the points table. They hardly broke a sweat in brushing aside Chennai Super Kings in their opening game before overcoming Gujarat Titans in a last-over finish in Ahmedabad.

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MI, meanwhile, began their tournament with a six-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders before they lost to Delhi Capitals by six wickets.

Team Lineups

Rajasthan Royals: 1 Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Dhruv Jurel (wk), 4 Riyan Parag (capt), 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Donovan Ferreira, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Nandre Burger, 10 Tushar Deshpande, 11 Sandeep Sharma
Bench: Ravi Bishnoi, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Brijesh Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Shubham Dubey.

Mumbai Indians: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Ryan Rickelton (wk), 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt), 6 Naman Dhir, 7 Shardul Thakur, 8 Deepak Chahar, 9 AM Ghazanfar, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
Bench: Ashwani Kumar, Sherfane Rutherford, Corbin Bosch, Robin Minz, Raj Bawa.

Arjun Mehta

Arjun Mehta is a senior cricket analyst and features writer for Cricbuzz, where he deciphers the Indian Premier League auction strategies, player development arcs, and the ever-changing dynamics of the national team. A Pune-based journalist with a sharp eye for numbers and a fluent storytelling style, Mehta has covered every IPL season since 2014 and reported from two ICC Men's T20 World Cups. His work often explores the business of cricket, dressing-room politics, and how grassroots systems across South Asia feed into the global game. An alumnus of Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication, Arjun is also a popular voice on Cricbuzz Live shows and a regular contributor to cricket podcasts.

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