Overview:
The 5-time champions Mumbai Indians would be desperate to get off the mark in the points table as they take on the Punjab Kings who seem to be getting caught in the mid-table muddle and a win here could get them going in a really positive direction.
Mumbai Indians have apparently been caught too much by their slow starters tag and since they lost so much of quality owing to the mega auction this year, the road to playoffs seems a very distant probability from hereon for them with the kind of squad they possess. The good part is that if Mumbai Indians seek some sort of inspiration, they don't have to look any further than themselves as they ended up lifting the cup the last time they lost their first 4 games in a season (2015).
On the other hand, Punjab Kings have been playing a really aggressive brand of cricket. Their costliest buy Liam Livingstone seems to have found his mojo finally in the biggest T20 league in the world. The likes of Jonny Bairstow and Mayank Agarwal would look to get some runs under their belt as their form would be really crucial for Punjab in this long tournament.
Team News:
MI: Tymal Mills may have been a tad expensive but he was consistently amongst the wickets (6 wickets in 3 games), a feature that all MI bowlers including Bumrah have lacked in this season so far. This could make a strong case for the inclusion of Mills in the side with a vulnerable looking Basil Thampi making way for him. Ramandeep Singh failed to impress in the previous game and though it would be unfair to the young man to be dropped after just one game but to have a better balance in the XI, either of Fabian Allen or Tim David should be able to walk into the XI.
Likely XI: Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Kieron Pollard, Fabian Allen/Tim David, Murugan Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Jaydev Unadkat, Tymal Mills
PBKS: Despite a heartbreaking loss in their previous game, they should walk in with the same XI. The only possible change could be Aussie pacer Nathan Ellis coming in for the Caribbean Odean Smith.
Likely XI: Mayank Agarwal (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Shahrukh Khan, Odean Smith/Nathan Ellis, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Arora
Pitch Report: The Gahunje Stadium in Pune has something in it for the slower bowlers but if they batters apply themselves then a good amount of runs can be accumulated over here. There is some swing on offer upfront as well. The side winning the toss over here will have literally no advantage with respect to dew as we have seen little to no dew in this venue during the 2nd innings. We can expect matches that produce scores in the vicinity of 165-175 as a par total.
Stats:
Head-to-Head: Played 28, MI Won 15, PBKS Won 13
1 – Punjab Kings have won only one out of the eight matches they played at MCA International Stadium in Pune. The only win came back in 2013, against Pune Warriors.
1 – Rohit Sharma needs one more four to reach 500 fours in the IPL. He will become the fifth player to the landmark after Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, David Warner, and Suresh Raina.
4 – Kieron Pollard needs four more catches to reach 100 catches for Mumbai Indians in the IPL. He will then become the first specialist fielder to take 100 catches for a single team.
4 – Jaydev Unadkat needs four wickets to reach the milestone of 200 wickets in T20 cricket.
25 – Rohit Sharma needs 25 runs to become the second Indian player to 10000 runs in T20 cricket, after Virat Kohli.
41 – Mayank Agarwal needs to score 41 runs to reach 4000 runs in T20 cricket.
50 – Ishan Kishan will be playing his 50th match for Mumbai Indians in the IPL.
89 – Shikhar Dhawan needs to score 90 runs to become the second player with 6000 runs in the IPL, after Virat Kohli.
98 – Shikhar Dhawan needs 98 runs to become the third Indian player to reach 9000 runs in T20 cricket, with the first two being Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
39 – Suryakumar Yadav (2461) requires 39 runs to reach 2500 runs in the IPL.
4 – Jonny Bairstow (46) is four sixes away from completing 50 sixes in the league.
9 – Ishan Kishan (141) needs nine fours to reach 150 fours in the league.
1 – Mayank Agarwal (99) is one inning away from appearing in 100 IPL innings.
2 – Ishan Kishan (298) also requires just two fours to get to 300 fours in T20 cricket.
4 – Rohit Sharma (196) also needs four maximums to complete 200 sixes for MI in T20 matches.
2 – Tim David (1978) needs 22 runs to get to 2000 runs in T20s.
26 – Kieron Pollard (11474) requires 26 runs to complete 11500 runs in T20 cricket.
7 – Mayank Agarwal (143) is seven big hits away from reaching 150 maximums in the T20 matches.
88 – Bairstow (3912) requires 88 runs to get to 4000 runs in T20 cricket.
5 – Bhanuka Rajapaksa (1995) needs five runs to get to 2000 runs in T20 cricket.
Dream11 Team:
