Kumar Kartikeya cricketer stats: Why is Dewald Brevis Baby AB not playing today’s IPL 2022 match between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians?

Why Baby AB not playing today: Mumbai Indians have made a couple of changes to their Playing XI for this match.

During the 44th match of the ongoing 15th season of the Indian Premier League between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians in Navi Mumbai, Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma has won the toss and chose to bowl in search of an elusive maiden victory of the season.

“We would like to bowl first. What we have seen over the course of the tournament, it suits us. We like to chase. Preparation has been good, most of it has been done before the tournament. Hopefully, we have some fun in the middle, that’s what we have been missing,” Sharma told Star Sports at the toss.

Having lost the toss and asked to bat first yet again this season, Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson was unaffected by the prospect of setting a target at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy.

“We are happy to set a target. We have done that 7-8 times already. We have been playing some good cricket, it’s easy be to be complacent, but we are taking this game as a really important one. We are playing with the same team,” Samson told Star Sports at the toss.

Why is Dewald Brevis Baby AB not playing vs Rajasthan Royals today?

Unlike their opposition, MI have made a couple of changes to their Playing XI bringing in batter Tim David and debutant spinner Kumar Kartikeya for batter Dewald Brevis and pacer Jaydev Unadkat.

With Sharma not being asked about the rationale behind these changes, they appear to be made to provide opportunities to other players in what has been a flop campaign for the most successful IPL franchise. While David has been recalled for his third match of the season, Kartikeya has been immediately handed a debut after being roped in as a replacement for injured pacer Arshad Khan.

Kartikeya, 24, is a left-arm spinner who plays Madhya Pradesh in domestic cricket. In his young eight-match T20 career, Kartikeya has picked nine wickets at an average of 16.11, an economy rate of 5.27 and a strike rate of 18.

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Brevis, who had put on display a lot of potential in his six IPL 2022 innings, scored 124 runs at an average of 20.66 and a strike rate of 155 this season.