IPL Eliminator: Mumbai Indians win toss, opt to bat against Gujarat Titans; MI hand debut to Bawa, Gleeson, Bairstow

Mullanpur (Punjab) [India], May 30 (ANI): Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to bat against Gujarat Titans in the Eliminator clash of the 18th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 on Friday in Mullanpur.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru became the first team to qualify for the IPL 2025 final after bashing Punjab Kings in a lopsided contest. MI and GT will fight for the right to compete with Punjab on Sunday in Qualifier 2 and earn a place in the final. Notably, Punjab lost the battle against Bengaluru after batting first at the same venue.
Mumbai Indians will miss the services of Ryan Rickelton and Will Jacks, who left the camp to fulfil their national duties. Meanwhile, the Gujarat Titans will line up without Jos Buttler, who hammered 538 runs for them in the group stage.
Mumbai will use Jonny Bairstow as Rickelton's replacement at the top, while Gujarat has roped in Kusal Mendis as Buttler's replacement. GT opening batters Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan have combined to add more than 600 runs at the top, while Mumbai have thrived in Suryakumar Yadav's consistency.
After winning the toss, Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya revealed the reason behind his decision and said, "We're going to bat. Looks like a different track from yesterday. A bit less grass. Big game, scoring runs and defending would be nice. We are all aware that for the last nine games, we have been playing it like a knockout. Really need to turn up today and focus on the things which we can control. We've got three changes: Jonny comes back, Gleeson makes his debut, and Raj Angad Bawa plays."
Gujarat Titans skipper Shubman Gill said during the time of the toss, "We would've chased. If someone had said at the start of the season that we would've qualified, we would've taken it. Boys are very excited to be able to come back here in Chandigarh, it's my hometown. This game is no different for us, no pressure of the knockout game or anything. Two changes - Mendis comes in for Buttler and Washington for Arshad."
Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Shubman Gill(c), Sai Sudharsan, Kusal Mendis(w), Shahrukh Khan, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Gerald Coetzee, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Gujarat Titans Impact Subs: Sherfane Rutherford, Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror, Jayant Yadav, Arshad Khan.
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Jonny Bairstow(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Naman Dhir, Raj Bawa, Mitchell Santner, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Richard Gleeson
Mumbai Indians Impact Subs: Krishnan Shrijith, Raghu Sharma, Robin Minz, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley. (ANI)