Chris Green IPL 2020: Why is Tom Banton not playing today’s IPL 2020 match vs Mumbai Indians?

Chris Green IPL 2020: The uncapped Australian spinner will make his Indian Premier League debut against Mumbai Indians.

During the 32nd match of the ongoing 13th season of the Indian Premier League between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan has won the toss and chose to bat.

It is worth mentioning that England’s World Cup-winning captain has been officially handed the captaincy today itself after Dinesh Karthik chose to step down.

“We are gonna bat first. The wicket looks good, hopefully we can get good score on the board. It [captaincy change] all happened yesterday. DK [Dinesh Karthik] came to myself and head coaches, decided it is better for the team and he also needs to focus on his batting. It just shows the culture we’ve created,” Morgan said during the toss.

Chris Green IPL 2020

As for Mumbai Indians, they would be looking to register yet another victory to reclaim their spot at the top of the points table. “Feel confident. We had a great last game here, it’s another challenge to come out and chase a target. It gives us another opportunity to come out and express ourselves.

“It is important to make sure everyone are fresh, not playing for a long period is easy for players to get injured,” Indians captain Rohit Sharma said during the toss. In the only change to their Playing XI, MI have included pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile for James Pattinson.

Talking about the changes for the batting team, they have handed a debut to uncapped Australian spinner Chris Green and also reinstated pacer Shivam Mavi for this match.

Opening batsman Tom Banton, who scored a disappointing 8 (12) in a 195-run chase against Royal Challengers Bangalore in his debut match, has been dropped to bolster their bowling resources. Apart from Banton, pacer Kamlesh Nagarkoti will also be warming the bench tonight.

The developments mean that all-rounder Sunil Narine will continue to sit out after being reported for a suspect action.

Chris Green IPL Price

Green, 27, was bought by Knight Riders for this base price of INR 20 lakh ahead of IPL 2020. A known face for bowling off-spin in T20 leagues around the world, Green gained fame after representing Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League.

ALSO READ: Chris Green allowed to bowl in competitive cricket after suspect action

In 93 T20s overall, Green’s 74 wickets have come at an average of 27.33, an economy rate of 6.64 and a strike rate of 24.6.