MI win toss, Rohit not in starting XI

Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to bowl first against KKR at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday. Hardik confirmed Mumbai had made only one change to their team for the clash, replacing Naman Dhir with Mohammad Nabi but it was later confirmed that Rohit was not named in the original XI as well and would not take the field in Mumbai’s first innings. He has been named as an Impact sub instead and should walk out to open the innings alongside Ishan Kishan.

Also Read: Watch: ‘You’ll have to go back’ – Hardik Pandya moves ex-captain Rohit Sharma around in the field

It was not revealed why Rohit, who will lead India in the T20 World Cup in June and held a press conference with the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar on Thursday, would not be fielding against KKR. Speculations are however rife that the decision was taken to manage his workload ahead of the marquee season.

Mumbai are currently ninth on the points table and are all but eliminated from the competition. India will play their first game in the T20 World Cup on June 5, 18 days after Mumbai Indians play their last league game of the IPL.

Rohit has made 315 runs this season with a high score of 105* at a strike rate of 158.29 but has been unable to cross ten in his last three innings.

KKR are without their exciting pace bowler Harshit Rana, who was suspended for a game following a second breach of the IPL Code of Conduct.

MI vs KKR, playing XIs:

Mumbai Indians: Ishan Kishan(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Nehal Wadhera, Hardik Pandya(c), Naman Dhir, Tim David, Gerald Coetzee, Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah, Nuwan Thushara

Kolkata Knight Riders: Philip Salt(w), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy

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