IPL 2021: MI vs RR, Match 51 Toss, Playing XI: Mumbai Indians elect to bowl against Rajasthan Royals

Sharjah, Oct 5: Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma on Tuesday (October 5) won the toss and invited Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson to bat first in match 51 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 here at Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

It is a do-or-die contest for both teams as a loss will end their playoffs campaign. Mumbai Indians are currently languishing at the seventh spot on the points table, with just five wins from 12 games. Royals are placed a rung above Rohit Sharma-led side, with the same number of wins, but with a slightly better net run rate.

Mumbai have made a couple of changes to the playing XI in a must-win game. Ishan Kishan has replaced Quinton de Kock while Jimmy Neesham has been included in place of Krunal Pandya.

After winning the toss Rohit said, "We are going to bowl first. We have tried everything in this UAE leg, we have tried batting first, we have tried bowling first. The wicket here doesn't change too much, so we thought let's have a target in front of us when we bat. We know where we stand at the moment. Every individual knows what they need to do. We have done enough talking, we have done the preparation, it's about coming here and executing. We need to read the situation, not to worry about what is happening elsewhere, not to worry about the table as well.

"If we play well, the results will take care of itself. Two changes: Ishan comes back for de Kock and Neesham for Krunal. We looked at how the game is being played here. The pacers have done well with their change-ups, the pitch tends to get slower and slower. It was unfortunate, Quinton is a very key player for us, so is Krunal. Unfortunately, we have to do those changes and these guys have to miss out."

Royals, on the other hand, have also made two changes as Kuldip Yadav and Shreyas Gopal replace Akash Singh and Mayank Markande.

Speaking about his team's strategy, Samson said: "In this tournament, we face different challenges in each game. We have a really good team to face those challenges. We have a decent combination that can suit this wicket. Definitely looking forward to an exciting game in this venue. Approach - we have to keep it simple, we'll have to keep trusting and keep on trusting our own teammates as well. Sanga in the team meeting just said to trust our routines. We have made two changes. Shreyas Gopal comes in for Mayank Markande and Kuldip Yadav comes in for Akash Singh."

Playing XIs:

Rajasthan Royals: Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Shivam Dube, Glenn Phillips, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Kuldip Yadav, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jayant Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult.