24 March,2024 11:20 PM IST | Ahmedabad | mid-day online correspondent
Hardik Pandya (Pic: AFP)
Hardik Pandya will aim to build on the rich legacy of his predecessor Rohit Sharma when he begins his Mumbai Indians captaincy stint with a match against Gujarat Titans, a team that the star all-rounder himself marshalled over last two seasons, in their IPL 2024 encounter on Sunday.
Such are the professional ways of IPL that Pandya, having led Titans to the title and runners-up finish in the previous two seasons, has gone to back to the Mumbai Indians where he made a name for himself.
The tournament also marks Pandya's comeback from a 'freak' ankle injury he picked up in the middle of the ODI World Cup in October.
The form of the injury-prone all-rounder with both bat and ball will be closely tracked in the tournament that precedes the T20 World Cup in the USA and Caribbean.
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With Pandya moving on to the other side, Titans will be led by Shubman Gill, who assumes the responsibility with very little captaincy experience.
Mumbai have been grappling with fitness issues to their key players including star batter Suryakumar Yadav, who is yet to get fitness clearance from NCA.
Left-arm pacers Jason Behrendorff and Dilshan Madushanka are already ruled out of the IPL while new recruit Gerald Coetzee, nursing a groin injury, might not be available for the first few games.
Having led Mumbai to as many as five IPL titles, India skipper Rohit will be turning up as a player this season and would be expected to hit top form ahead of the ICC event in June.
Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Rohit Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Jasprit Bumrah, Piyush Chawla, Gerald Coetzee, Tim David, Shreyas Gopal, Ishan Kishan, Anshul Kamboj, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Kwena Maphaka, Mohammad Nabi, Shams Mulani, Naman Dhir, Shivalik Sharma, Romario Shepherd, Arjun Tendulkar, Nuwan Thushara, Tilak Varma, Vishnu Vinod, Nehal Wadhera, Luke Wood, Suryakumar Yadav.
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Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Spencer Johnson, Kartik Tyagi, Josh Little, Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Sushant Mishra, Darshan Nalkande, Noor Ahmad, Rashid Khan, Wriddhiman Saha, Sai Kishore, Sai Sudharsan, M Shahrukh Khan, Vijay Shankar, BR Sharath, Mohit Sharma, Manav Suthar, Rahul Tewatia, Matthew Wade, Kane Williamson, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav
Wicketkeeper - Ishan Kishan
Batters - Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Rohit Sharma, Sai Sudharsan
All-rounders - Rashid Khan, Hardik Pandya, Vijay Shankar
Bowlers - Jasprit Bumrah, Nuwan Thushara, Spencer Johnson
Hardik Pandya wins toss, opts to bat against former team Gujarat Titans.
11: 20 PM: MI: 162/9 (20)
Despite Hardik Pandya's heroics, Mumbai Indians fall short of six runs. Gujarat Titans win their first IPL 2024 encounter against MI.
11: 05 PM: MI: 142/5 (18)
With Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma in the middle, Mumbaikars are 27 runs shy from achieving victory.
10: 54 PM: MI: 130/4 (16)
The visitors lose the wicket of Dewald Brevis. Mumbai Indians are in huge trouble, need 39 runs in 4 overs.
10: 45 PM: MI: 126/3 (15)
Mumbai Indians lose control after Rohit's dismissal. MI needs 43 runs in 30 balls.
10: 35 PM: MI: 112/3 (13)
Mumbai loses the wicket of set Rohit Sharma. Sai Kishore helps GT remove Sharma. New batsman Tilak Varma enters the ground.
10: 22 PM: MI: 97/2 (11)
Rohit Sharma and Dewald Brevis stand tall. Mumbai needs 72 runs to win in 54 balls.
10: 14 PM: MI: 71/2 (9)
Mumbai duo push Gujarat Titans on backfoot. Rohit (31) and Brevis (18) continue to lead MI's batting from the front.
10: 06 PM: MI:55 /2 (7)
Mumbai Indians take control of the match. Rohit and Brevis take MI to 55 runs in seven overs.
9: 56 PM: MI: 46/2 (5)
Rohit Sharma continues batting aggressively despite the fall of wickets in a quick session. Impact player Dewald Brevis joins Sharma to chase the target.
9: 48 PM: MI: 30/2 (3)
Naman Dhir departs after playing a cameo of 20 runs. MI reach 30 runs after the end of three overs.
9: 36 PM: MI: 2/1 (1)
Ishan Kishan departs early. Mumbai is in huge trouble, Naman Dhir joins Rohit Sharma in the middle. Azmatullah Omarzai helps GT to get its first breakthrough.
9: 20 PM: GT: 168/6 (20)
Jasprit Bumrah shone brightly for Mumbai Indians. The pacer bagged three wickets by conceding just 14 overs in his 4-over spell. The Mumbaikars now need to chase down 169 runs to secure a victory against GT.
8:44 PM: 106/3 (13 overs)
Omarzai has walked back to the pavilion and it is David Miller who comes in the middle to join Sai Sudharsan now. GT looking for a partnership at the moment.
8:38 PM: 99/2 (11 overs)
Sai Sudharsan is showing his skills against Piyush Chawla. He sweeps the leggie for a huge six on the leg-side.
8:25 PM: 69/2 (9.3 overs)
Shubman Gill departs as Piyush Chawla traps the GT captain and it is Rohit Sharma who completes the catch for MI at the rope.
8:19 PM: 67/1 (8 overs)
Shubman Gill looks in fine rhythm batting on 30 off 20 balls with 3 fours and a six so far. Mumbai Indians looking for a wicket right now.
8:10 PM: 43/1 (6 overs)
Jasprit Bumrah strikes with a steaming yorker as Wriddhiman Saha gets clean bowled. Mumbai Indians get the early wicket they were looking for.
8:00 PM: 38/1 (4 overs)
Jasprit Bumrah strikes with a steaming yorker as Wriddhiman Saha gets clean bowled. Mumbai Indians get the early wicket they were looking for.
7:45 PM: 27/0 (2 overs)
Saha has smashed Hardik Pandya for a couple of fours in his second over and it looks like the GT openers will target him in the powerplay.
7:30 PM: Match begins!
