Going by the previous editions of the cash-rich league, never have Mumbai Indians got off to a better start. They sit pretty at 2 in the points table, with KKR just above them, only by NRR. For Gujarat Lions this is a season they would like to wipe off as soon as possible. Table-toppers from last year, Gujarat Lions have been one of the worst teams this season. Raina has shown some form but he has not found support from the other end and that has led to their downfall.
Lions won both their meetings against Mumbai in the previous season.
Allrounder Krunal Pandya has recovered from the illness that kept him out of Mumbai’s previous game, but his selection will be subject to a fitness test before the match.
Lions’ bowlers could attack Nitish Rana with the short ball early. Despite his success against the short ball, Rana has been out in the previous two innings attempting to pull bouncers from Dan Christian and Pat Cummins.
This is the second match of the double-header Saturday and the match will be played at Rajkot, the Lions den. The match begins at 2000 hrs.
The likely XIs
Gujarat Lions: 1 Brendon McCullum, 2 Ishan Kishan, 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Aaron Finch, 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 James Faulkner, 8 Andrew Tye, 9 Basil Thampi, 10 Nathu Singh, 11 Ankit Soni
Mumbai Indians: 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 Jos Buttler, 3 Nitish Rana, 4 Rohit Sharma (capt), 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Krunal Pandya/Karn Sharma, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Mitchell McClenaghan, 10 Mitchell Johnson/Lasith Malinga, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
