After a tense showdown in the high-voltage El Clásico against the Chennai Super Kings, the Mumbai Indians find themselves hitting the road for their upcoming four away matches, led by Hardik Pandya.
As they reach the halfway mark of the tournament, MI will take on the Punjab Kings in their seventh game of the season, marked as match number 33 of the Indian Premier League, under the gleaming floodlights of the newly constructed Mullanpur Cricket Stadium in Chandigarh, slated for Thursday evening.
Kings, grappling with captain Shikhar Dhawan‘s injury setback, have witnessed some nail-biting last-over thrillers this season, though only a couple have swung in their favor, leaving them languishing in 7th place on the points table with 2 wins and 4 losses from their 6 matches.
Meanwhile, for the visitors, the IPL 2024 journey has been a rollercoaster ride, with the Men in Blue clinching victory in just two of their 6 outings, placing them just below the Kings in the standings.
What has happened so far?
In their opening game of the tournament against Delhi Capital, PBKS showcased promise, clinching victory with a four-wicket triumph. Despite a valiant effort in their second game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, they narrowly missed victory, suffering a four-wicket loss.
Against Lucknow Supergiants, PBKS fell short by 21 runs despite needing 64 runs off the last five overs. However, they turned the tide in a memorable match against Gujarat Titans, clinching victory by three wickets.
Yet, their joy was short-lived as they suffered consecutive defeats to Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals, both in tight finishes.
On the other hand, the Pandya-led side stumbled in their campaign opener against GT, squandering a promising run chase to end up on the losing side. Their struggles continued as they conceded a mammoth total of 277 runs against SRH, eventually succumbing to a 31-run defeat despite a spirited effort.
Their woes continued at the Wankhede Stadium, where they suffered a humiliating six-wicket defeat at the hands of the RR. However, their fortunes took a turn for the better with successive victories against DC and RCB.
In their recent clash against Chennai Super Kings, despite Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten century, MI fell short in their chase of 207 runs, prompting critics to scrutinise Pandya’s below-par captaincy tactics.
Head to Head Record
Despite claiming five championship titles, the Men in Blue haven’t established a clear dominance over the Punjab-based franchise. Out of their 31 encounters to date, MI has clinched victory 16 times, while Punjab has emerged triumphant on 15 occasions.
Key Players
Kagiso Rabada (Punjab Kings): The pace sensation, Kagiso Rabada, stands out as the solitary consistent performer for the host side. With an impressive bowling average of 21.22, the Proteas speedster has scalped 9 wickets in 6 matches, boasting an economy and strike rate of 7.95 and 16 respectively.
Rabada’s remarkable track record speaks volumes, positioning him as the third-highest wicket-taker among overseas pacers in tournament history, having claimed 115 wickets in 75 matches, at an average and economy rate of 20.77 and 8.38 respectively.
Jasprit Bumrah has a bowling average of 17.95 against PBKS
Jasprit Bumrah (Mumbai Indians): Once again, all eyes will be on Jasprit Bumrah, who is currently in the form of his life and will lead the bowling attack for MI Paltan against Punjab. With just one wicket shy of leading the Purple Cap race, Bumrah has snatched 10 wickets in 6 matches, boasting an impressive average of 14.60, with an economy of 6.08.
Bumrah’s mastery lies in his ability to curtail runs at any stage of the match, evidenced by the fact that out of 6 matches, he has conceded more than 30 runs in his 4-over quota only once. It will indeed be an uphill task for the opposition batsmen to launch an assault when Bumrah is on the attack.
Team News from Both Camps
Reports suggest that Punjab’s Captain Shikhar Dhawan, sidelined in the previous match due to a niggle, is expected to miss the upcoming match against Mumbai as well. Sam Curran is slated to lead the side in Dhawan’s absence.
In addition to Dhawan’s injury, opener Jonny Bairstow might find himself out of the lineup for the upcoming game as the Englishman has only managed to accumulate 96 runs in six innings.
On the visitor’s side, MI is likely to stick with their current playing XI at Mullanpur Stadium, as there are no injury concerns within the Mark Boucher-coached side.
Predicted XIs
Punjab Kings: Atharva Taide, Prabhsimran Singh, Sam Curran ©, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shashank Singh, Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya ©, Tim David, Mohammad Nabi, Romario Shepherd, Gerald Coetzee, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Madhwal
Prediction
In their last encounter at Mohali’s old stadium in 2023, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav delivered blistering knocks, propelling MI to chase down a target of 215 runs with 7 balls to spare.
However, as both teams enter this match with a waning momentum, the Mumbai-based franchise holds a slight advantage over the home team, thanks to their established combination and the stellar form of their players.