Hardik Pandya, the star all-rounder, will play his 100th game for the Mumbai Indians (MI) on Monday when they face the Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Jaipur’s Sawai Man Singh Stadium.
In an exciting clash between two batting powerhouses, the Rajasthan Royals (RR) will face the Mumbai Indians (MI) for the second time in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at their home stadium.
This will be the Royals’ fifth and final match in Jaipur this season, with three wins and one loss.
The Royals won by two wickets away to the Kolkata Knight Riders in their previous game last week. Mumbai Indians defeated Punjab Kings by nine runs in their last match on Thursday in Mohali.
Rajasthan Royals maintain their lead in the IPL 2024 standings with 12 points and a net run rate of 0.677, having won six matches and lost only one.
Meanwhile, the Mumbai Indians have played seven games this season, winning three while losing four. MI is currently ranked sixth in the IPL, with six points and an NRR of -0.133.
Hardik, who made his return this season to the Blue and Gold franchise after two brilliant years with Gujarat Titans, will wear the prestigious colours for the 100th time.
Pandya represented MI from 2015-21 and played a crucial role in their championship wins from 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. Then, from 2022 to 2023, he joined the Gujarat Titans and helped them win the title in their debut season.
Pandya has 1,617 runs for MI in 99 matches, with an average of 26.95 and a strike rate of 153.27, including four half-centuries. His best score is 91*. He also took 46 wickets with the best figures of 3.20.
For Gujarat, he scored 833 runs in 31 matches at an average of 37.86 and a strike rate of 133.49, including six fifties. His highest score is 87*. He also took 11 wickets for the franchise, with the best spell being 3.17.
He has scored 2,450 runs in 130 IPL matches, with an average of 29.88 and a strike rate of over 145, including 10 fifties. His best score is 91*. He has also taken 57 wickets, with his best figure of 3/17.
This season has been underwhelming for Pandya on his return to MI. In seven games, he has scored 141 runs at an average of 23.50 and a strike rate of 146.88, with the highest score of 39. He has also taken just four wickets in this season.
Mumbai Indians Squad: Ishan Kishan(w), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Mohammad Nabi, Gerald Coetzee, Shreyas Gopal, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Madhwal, Nuwan Thushara, Kumar Kartikeya, Piyush Chawla, Naman Dhir, Luke Wood, Harvik Desai, Shams Mulani, Arjun Tendulkar, Nehal Wadhera, Shivalik Sharma, Anshul Kamboj, Dewald Brevis, Kwena Maphaka
Rajasthan Royals Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Sen, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jos Buttler, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Shubham Dubey, Navdeep Saini, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Keshav Maharaj, Tanush Kotian, Donovan Ferreira, Abid Mushtaq, Kunal Singh Rathore.
