Kings XI Punjab skipper Ravichandran Ashwin won the toss and elected to bowl against Mumbai Indians in an IPL on Saturday. Leading his team right from the front, skipper Ashwin decided to open the attack for his team, for the first time in this season. It’s not a hidden fact that Mumbai Indian’s opening batsman De Kock is weak against off-spin.


Rohit Sharma was looking in good form and helped his team to get a flyer start as he smashed bowlers on both sides of the ground. Mumbai were 46 for no loss after five overs; two of the best Punjab’s bowlers Mohammad Shami and Tye were hit for five fours in their first overs each.

Skipper Sharma got trapped in front of the stumps as spinner Viljoen picked the first wicket for Punjab.

After Rohit’s dismissal, Suryakumar Yadav looked in fine nick as he smashed back to back boundaries in 5th over. However, some excellent fielding in the deep by Mandeep Singh broke Yadav’s momentum after he dived mid-air back in to push the ball away from the boundary rope. The other Ashwin (M Ashwin) ensured that Yadav’s fiery innings was short-lived as he took out Suryakumar, LBW, plumb in front.

Here’s the Video…


Ashwin’s men went through a huge blow against Kolkata Knight Riders in their previous encounter where Andre Russell brutally punished them at the Eden Gardens. A no-ball, due to improper field placement, made them pay a huge price. However, they would look forward to regaining the momentum at home ground.

Here're the Playing XI:

Mumbai Indians: Quinton de Kock(w), Rohit Sharma(c), Suryakumar Yadav, Yuvraj Singh, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mayank Markande, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga

Kings XI Punjab: Lokesh Rahul(w), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, David Miller, Mandeep Singh, Hardus Viljoen, Ravichandran Ashwin(c), Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Andrew Tye