New Chandigarh, May 30 (IANS) Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to bat first against Gujarat Titans in the Eliminator match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh on Friday.

It was certainly a surprising decision to bat first, given that the Qualifier 1 between Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Thursday was a low-scoring game with plenty on offer for the bowlers. However, MI captain Hardik Pandya revealed that the pitch being used on Friday looks better to bat on.

MI also came into the game having made three changes with Jonny Bairstow, Richard Gleeson, and Raj Angad Bawa coming into the mix in place of Ryan Rickelton, Corbin Bosch, and Will Jacks, who all returned home for national duty.

“We’re going to bat. Looks like a different track than yesterday. A bit less grass. Big game, scoring runs and defending would be nice. We are all aware that for the last 9 games, we have been playing it like a knockout. Really need to turn up today and focus on the things which we can control. We’ve got three changes: Jonny comes back, Gleeson makes his debut, and Raj Angad Bawa plays,” said Pandya at the toss.

Hometown hero Shubman Gill, who was appointed captain of GT after Pandya’s departure in 2023, is excited to play at his home ground and confirmed the two changes his side made. The biggest loss for his side will be the absence of Jos Buttler, who had to leave the IPL citing international duty.

“We would’ve chased. If someone had said at the start of the season that we would’ve qualified, we would’ve taken it. The boys are very excited to be able to come back here in Chandigarh, it’s my home town. This game is no different for us, no pressure of the knockout game or anything. Two changes – (Kusal) Mendis comes in for(Jos) Buttler and Washington (Sundr) for Arshad (Khan),” said Gill.

The winner of this clash will face Punjab Kings in Qualifier 2 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

Playing XIs:

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Naman Dhir, Raj Bawa, Mitchell Santner, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Richard Gleeson

Impact substitutes: Krishnan Shrijith, Raghu Sharma, Robin Minz, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Tople

Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Kusal Mendis (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Gerald Coetzee, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

Impact substitutes: Sherfane Rutherford, Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror, Jayant Yadav, Arshad Khan

–IANS

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