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Hardik Pandya-led Mumbai Indians (MI) won the toss and decided to field against Shreyas Iyer's Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 60th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 on Saturday evening.
Earlier, the toss was delayed due to rain. The iconic Eden Gardens was covered with sheets till the time it stopped raining. However, the match officials have decided that the game will kick off at 9:15 PM and it will be a 16-over contest. Hardik Pandya-led MI are already out of the playoffs after they lost eight of 12 matches in the tournament. MI are in ninth place in the IPL standings and have a negative net run rate of 0.212. The Kolkata-based franchise have won 8 of 11 matches and are on the top of the table with 16 points and has a positive net run rate of 1.453. They are just two points away from securing qualification for the playoffs. Speaking at the toss, MI skipper Pandya said they want to see how the pitch at the Eden Gardens behaves during the game. "We are going to bowl. Just want to see how the pitch behaves. It has been under covers for two days. We all are aware of the stats, but you got to turn up and play good cricket on the day. Same team," Pandya said. While KKR captain Iyer confirmed Nitish Rana will replace Angkrish Raghuvanshi in the first eleven. "I tried it another time (toss), still it came down as heads (smiles at his record on losing tosses). It's part and parcel but it such games it's crucial. Not going to take those excuses though. We want the Q next to our team. Nitish comes in for Angkrish," Iyer said. Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Ishan Kishan (Wk), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Nehal Wadhera, Hardik Pandya (C), Tim David, Anshul Kamboj, Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah, Nuwan Thushara. Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Philip Salt (Wk), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (C), Rinku Singh, Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy. (ANI)
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