IPL 2022: Why are Dewald Brevis and Jaydev Unadkat not playing today's MI vs RR match?

Mumbai Indians have dropped batter Dewald Brevis and pacer Jaydev Unadkat for their IPL 2022 match against Rajasthan Royals at the DY Patil Sports Academy on Saturday. After a disastrous run of eight defeats, MI are hoping to turn their campaign around.

The former, also known as 'Baby AB de Villiers' among fans, had started the season brilliantly but has scored in single digits in the last two matches. Nonetheless, he had looked in better form than the lower-order stalwart, Kieron Pollard. By dropping him, Mumbai has shown trust in the West Indian to return to form soon.

The South African youngster has been replaced by lower-order hitter Tim David. The Singapore-born all-rounder was signed for ₹8.5 crore at the auction but surprisingly got just two games to prove his talent. He could only score 13 runs in them and had to make way for Brevis in the third match.

Meanwhile, Jaydev Unadkat had picked up six wickets from five games. He was a tad expensive with an economy rate of 9.50 and perhaps paid the price of being a part of a weak bowling attack desperate for some freshness. He made way for Kumar Kartikeya, the left-arm spinner who was recently signed as a replacement.

The 24-year-old has played eight T20s for Madhya Pradesh, picking nine wickets at an average of 16.11. He also has 35 and 18 wickets from 9 first-class and 19 List A matches, respectively.

Mumbai's playing 11 without Dewald Brevis and Jaydev Unadkat

Mumbai Indians playing 11: Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Tim David, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Kieron Pollard, Hrithik Shokeen, Daniel Sams, Jasprit Bumrah, Kumar Kartikeya and Riley Meredith.

The Royals, meanwhile, have made no changes to their team.

Rajasthan Royals playing 11: Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (w/c), Daryl Mitchell, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Kuldeep Sen.