Mumbai, Mar 31 (UNI) Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to field against Kolkata Knight Riders in their high-octane Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at Wankhede Stadium here on Sunday. The night also marked a special occasion for Mumbai’s new pace sensation Ashwani Kumar, who made his IPL debut, while KKR’s star all-rounder Sunil Narine returned to the playing XI.

Skipper Hardik Pandya was upbeat about his decision to chase, banking on the familiar Wankhede conditions. "We are going to bowl first, looks like a good track. Knowing Wankhede, dew may or may not come in. There might be some early swing, it plays well so we thought chasing is a good option. We want to get into a good rhythm and kickstart. Overall, we want to play better cricket, we need to stay calm. Will Jacks comes back and we have a debutant – Ashwani Kumar," Pandya stated at the toss.

KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane admitted he had also considered bowling first but was content with batting first on what he deemed a "good toss to lose."

"We wanted to bowl first as well but I was confused looking at the wicket. Generally, Wankhede is a good batting surface, so I feel it's a good toss to lose. There's a little breeze going on, no dew factor to deal with. We will look to post a good total on the board and I have confidence in our bowlers to defend. We are playing good cricket, every game gives a good opportunity to play good cricket. Lovely ground, we are looking to play good cricket. Sunil Narine comes in in place of Moeen," Rahane stated, exuding confidence.

With both teams hungry for a win, fans can expect an electrifying contest under the Mumbai skyline.

Teams:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Quinton de Kock (w), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy.

Mumbai Indians: Ryan Rickelton, Will Jacks (w), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Ashwani Kumar, Vignesh Puthur.

Impact Substitutes:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Anrich Nortje, Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey, Vaibhav Arora, Luvnith Sisodia.

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Corbin Bosch, Raj Bawa, Robin Minz, Satyanarayana Raju. UNI BDN SSP