IPL 2019, RCB vs MI, Match 44: Chennai opt to bowl; Dhoni, Jadeja miss out

Suresh Raina takes the captaincy charge in the absence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni who is down with fever

Table toppers Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are set to host third-ranked Mumbai Indians (MI) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium for the IPL match number 44 on Friday. After eight wins from 11 games and 16 points in their kitty, Chennai have almost qualified for the play-offs. On the other hand, Mumbai have 12 points and is yet to consolidate its position in the top four and need at least two more wins to seal a play-off berth. The Rohit Sharma-led side, however, had outclassed the yellow brigade by 37 runs when they last faced-off in Mumbai. Toss Update: CSK have won the toss and opted to bowl first. The Yellow Army takes the field without MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja as both of them are down with fever. Raina takes the leadership responsibilities while Faf du Plessis also misses out tonight. To replace them, come in Murli Vijay, Dhruv Shorey, and Mitchell Santner. “We will bowl first, wicket still looks the same. I think dew will be the factor. MS and Jaddu are not well, they have a fever and they will miss today's game,” said stand-in skipper Suresh Raina.

The @ChennaiIPL win the toss and elect to bowl first against the @mipaltan #CSKvMI pic.twitter.com/a4Un17kV7Q

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 26, 2019

Mumbai Indians have made a couple of changes in the side. Evin Lewis and Anukul Roy come in place of Ben Cutting and Mayank Markande “I would have chased too as dew comes in the second half which makes batting easier. The first half of the tournament was bit up and down. But now we know exactly what we need to do as a team. It is always challenging to play cricket here,” said Rohit Sharma. Here are the Playing XIs: Mumbai Indians: Quinton de Kock(w), Evin Lewis, Rohit Sharma(c), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy, Rahul Chahar, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah Chennai Super Kings: Shane Watson, Murali Vijay, Suresh Raina(c), Ambati Rayudu(w), Dhruv Shorey, Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir