When they started their campaigns in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians would not have imagined that they would be playing a one-match shootout at the fag end of the league phase as they clash in a crucial match in Jaipur on Monday.
With the Gujarat Titans losing to the Chennai Super Kings on Sunday evening, it has opened up another opportunity for the PBKS and the Mumbai Indians to leapfrog the table toppers and secure a place in the top two if other results go their way.
If PBKS win on Monday, they will take over the top spot with 19 points ahead of Gujarat Titans (18). In case the Royal Challengers Bengaluru win against Lucknow Super Giants on Tuesday, they too can overtake GT and push them to third place.
PBKS and MI -- both have qualified for the playoffs -- have taken contrasting paths to this match, which was earlier scheduled at Dharamsala and was shifted first to Ahmedabad because of the war-like conflict between India and Pakistan. It was later shifted to Jaipur.
PBKS are currently in the second place in the standings with 17 points. They rode on superb batting from Prabhsimran Singh (486) and Priyansh Arya (362), while Nehal Wadhera (296) too has done well. Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh has taken 18 wickets so far, while Marco Jansen (14) and Yuzvendra Chahal (14) and Harpreet Brar (9) too have done well.
They had an opportunity to go atop the points table a couple of days back, but they lost to Delhi Capitals by six wickets. PBKS head coach Ricky Ponting said his players should learn from the loss to DC and should be ready for the Mumbai Indians.
If we look back, I am disappointed that we lost, but I actually think that gives us a chance to sit back and reset now and get ready to go again. Forget about this game tomorrow, but make sure when we turn up for Monday that we are 100% switched on and ready to go.
We have obviously qualified for the finals and we are trying to get that top 2 spots, so unfortunately tonight might hurt that little bit. We are playing really good cricket. Different guys are stepping up at different times and a lot is riding on where we finish on the table.
Punjab Kings will be without leg-spinner Yuzi Chahal, who is out an wrist injury.
Mumbai Indians were at one juncture languishing towards the bottom of the points table with one win in five matches. But they won six matches in a row to surge to the top of the points table and were the last team to clinch their playoff spot. Suryakumar Yadav has led their batting effort with 593 runs, while Ryan Rickelton has contributed 361 runs. Rohit Sharma too has done well with 305 runs in 12 matches.
Trent Boult (19 wickets) and Jasprit Bumrah (18) have led their efforts with the ball, while Hardik Pandya (13) and Deepak Chahar (11) have done well.
Another win will push the Mumbai Indians into the top two spots if other results also go their way. A place in the top two will get them into Qualifier 1 and then get them a chance to be in the Eliminator if they lose.
Though it will be a key match for Mumbai Indians, all-rounder Will Jacks said their approach to it will be the same as for other matches and they will not take any extra pressure.
It will be a normal match for us and we will follow all the processes that we do for any match. We will prepare very hard for the match and will try and give it our best.
Jacks along with South African duo Corbin Bosch and Ryan Rickelton will be leaving the team after Monday's match for national duty, Jacks will be joining the England team for their series against West Indies while Bosch and Rickelton will be getting ready for the World Test Championship final with the South Africa team, which will play defending champions Australia at Lord's.
Though MI have already roped in replacements for these three players, the players on their part would love to leave the team on a winning note. Karn Sharma and Ashwani Kumar will continue to start on the substitute bench.
Mumbai Indians come into the match with four wins in their last five matches while PBKS have won three, lost one and have one No result. Overall, in 32 matches, there is not much difference between them, as Mumbai Indians have 17 wins while PBKS have won 16 matches.
Probable playing XIs: Punjab Kings: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas Iyer (capt), Josh Inglis (wk), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harpreet Brar, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Praveen Dubey
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult.
