Mukesh Choudhary to Will Jacks, Good carry first up. Mukesh Choudhary peppers the hard length and darts it across the right-hander's off stump. Will Jacks looks to cut but is beaten by the extra bounce.
All in readiness for the biggest rivalry of IPL to get underway in Chennai. The two umpires walk out. Needless to say, it's a full house with yellow dominating the blues in the crowd. Ruturaj Gaikwad has his men in a huddle before the Super Kings scatter throughout the park. Ryan Rickelton and Will Jacks are the two MI openers. Mukesh Choudhary has the new ball and will bowl the opening over. Jacks to face. A slip in place. Here we go!
Impact Player options for CSK - Kartik Sharma, Akeal Hosein, Sarfaraz Khan, Matthew Short, and Gurjapneet Singh.
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI) - Sanju Samson (WK), Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Urvil Patel, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, Jamie Overton, Ramakrishna Ghosh (In for Kartik Sharma), Prashant Veer (In for Akeal Hosein), Noor Ahmad, Anshul Kamboj, and Mukesh Choudhary (In for Gurjapneet Singh).
Impact Player options for MI - Raj Bawa, Raghu Sharma, Mayank Rawat, Shardul Thakur, and Ashwani Kumar.
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI) - Will Jacks, Ryan Rickelton (WK), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (C), Robin Minz, Krish Bhagat (In for Ashwani Kumar), Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, and AM Ghazanfar.
The skipper of Chennai Super Kings - Ruturaj Gaikwad says they would have batted first as well. Details that the wicket looks pretty good and looks on the drier side and thinks it won't change much throughout the game. Admits that in the previous game they were put into a very difficult position but underlines that they recovered well and put on a fighting score on the board. He notes it was a bit of a tough track to bat on in the last game and says everyone's confidence is high. On his message to the team, Gaikwad says there is nothing much, just to stick to their process, keep it simple and try to do the basics right. He acknowledges it is a pressure game and a must-win, but says if they do their process right, the results will come. On team changes, Gaikwad confirms they have a couple of changes, with Ramakrishna Ghosh coming in for Gurjapneet Singh and Prashant Veer coming in for Akeal Hosein.
The captain of Mumbai Indians - Hardik Pandya says that it looks like a good track. In the T20 World Cup, they played against Zimbabwe on this wicket and it played well. Adds that they batted well in the last game and wants to give another chance batting first. Pandya mentions that it has been a must-win situation for the last 7-8 games. There is still a lot to play for, especially for pride. They are professionals and will have to play good cricket to get the result. Hardik shares that they haven't lost games over 40 overs, it has been those 2-3 overs which have cost them. He reckons that if they can take the half-chances, create half-chances, score the runs they need, they will be in a better position. Informs that Raghu Sharma, the leggie, is making his debut. Krish Bhagat also comes back in the side for Ashwani Kumar.
It does land as 'Heads' and Mumbai Indians will BAT first.