‘Dhawan said bowl first’ – Rohit Sharma gives hilarious reason for bowling first against Punjab Kings

Rohit Sharma. (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL)

Known for his wit and humour, Rohit Sharma gave another hilarious statement at the toss ahead of Match 46 in IPL 2023, between Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians. On being about his decision upon winning the toss by host Anjum Chopra, the MI captain chose to bowl first, reasoning that he had asked the same to question to PBKS captain Shikhar Dhawan, who told him to bowl first.

“I asked Shikhar Dhawan what to do. He said bowl first, so we will bowl first,” said Rohit at the toss. The match is being played at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali and both the teams are coming into the fixture having won their previous matches.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians defeated Rajasthan Royals in their previous game as they chased down a mammoth 213 with six wickets to spare. Notably, it was the highest successful chase at the Wankhede Stadium. On the other hand, Punjab Kings defeated Chennai Super Kings in their previous game, chasing a massive 201 on the last ball of the match to win the game by four wickets.

Mumbai and Punjab met earlier this year in Match 31, where the latter beat the five-time champions by 13 runs. At one stage MI required 40 runs off the last three overs with seven wickets in hand and Suryakumar Yadav (57 off 25) and Tim David (3 off 3) at the crease.

However, Arshdeep Singh emerged as the man with the golden arm for Punjab as he first dismissed Suryakumar in the 18th over and later defended 16 runs in the final over, putting an excellent exhibition of death bowling. The left-arm seamer finished with figures of 4/29 and helped his team register their fourth win of the season.