A rampant Mumbai Indians will current a stern check of character for a rattled Punjab Kings in a digital semifinal when the 2 groups face off in Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League in Ahmedabad on Sunday (June 1, 2025).
An eight-wicket hammering by the hands of Royal Challengers Bengaluru in a one-sided Qualifier 1 could have eroded some quantity of confidence in Shreyas Iyer’s Punjab Kings, who at the moment are in a do-or-die state of affairs as they dream of successful a maiden IPL trophy.
On the opposite hand,(*2*) Mumbai Indians took one other stride in direction of a possible sixth title with a complete victory, which knocked out title favourites Gujarat Titans in the Eliminator.
History tells Mumbai Indians know their manner round these lanes of IPL knockouts higher than both of the opposite two groups left in the competitors and that definitely tilt the scales in favour of Hardik Pandya’s aspect.
But coach Mahela Jayawardene’s problem could be to maintain his troops organised which the previous Sri Lankan captain has been in a position to do exceedingly properly after taking on a aspect that completed on the backside in the earlier season.
For the the Iyer-Ricky Ponting pair, the duty could be to make sure their gamers put behind the crushing defeat in their final sport and channel their energies to struggle the fires which have erupted significantly in the bowling line-up, the place Arshdeep Singh is carrying further stress.
The absence of Marco Jansen and unavailability of IPL’s highest-ever wicket-taker in Yuzvendra Chahal was evident when PBKS scrambled to search out choices to use stress on a spicy wicket in Mullanpur towards RCB.
But on the similar time, PBKS camp might really feel that that ‘one dangerous day’, collectively for his or her batters and particularly in the knockouts, is now behind them and that it didn’t rob them of a possibility to make the ultimate.
PBKS would additionally know the margin of error is getting leaner how Rohit Sharma pulverised GT’s bowling assault and arrange the win for MI, driving on a few early lifelines to supply a match-winning knock.
A holistic view would maybe depart one with out recognizing any chink in Mumbai Indians’ armour who’ve fired on all cylinders. They would proceed to lean on their wealthy mix of Indian gamers together with Rohit, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma and Pandya to return collectively.
MI may also be significantly happy with how their new recruits Jonny Bairstow and Richard Gleeson eased into the warmth of the competitors to ship their bits, which on the finish, proved very important in crushing GT on a batting-friendly pitch.
After all, the result of the competition on the Narendra Modi Stadium might properly be determined over how the 2 bowling assaults execute their plans for the reason that surfaces right here have often produced high-scoring video games.
Jasprit Bumrah’s exploits and a intelligent deployment of the ace Indian bowler throughout the 20 overs have been one among MI’s largest strengths this season.
While Bumrah’s accuracy and guile has not allowed the batters to attain runs off him simply, PBKS would additionally wish to draw from their win over MI earlier this season when regardless of his measly returns, they have been in a position to go over the road with seven wickets in hand.
Suryakumar’s unmatched consistency with the bat met with a glowing knock from Tilak Varma towards the Titans however for PBKS, it is going to be vital to have their explosive opening pair of Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya discovering their rhythm to set the tone.
Teams (from):
Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Bevon Jacobs, Robin Minz (wk), Krishnan Shrijith (wk), Naman Dhir, Raj Bawa, Mitchell Santner, Jasprit Bumrah, Arjun Tendulkar, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley, Karn Sharma, Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, Satyanarayana Raju, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Raghu Sharma, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Richard Gleeson, Charith Asalanka.
Punjab Kings: Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Vishnu Vinod (wk), Josh Inglis (wk), Harnoor Pannu, Pyla Avinash, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Harpreet Brar, Azmatullah Omarzai, Priyansh Arya, Aaron Hardie, Musheer Khan, Suryansh Shedge, Mitch Owen, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Kuldeep Sen, Xavier Bartlett, Pravin Dubey, Kyle Jamieson.
Match begins at 7:30PM IST.
Published – May 31, 2025 11:30 am IST
