Punjab Kings are set to face Mumbai Indians in the 58th match of the ongoing Indian Premier League on Thursday in Dharamshala. Heading into this clash, for Punjab it is about rediscovering belief before a promising campaign begins to take a drastic turn. At the start of the tournament, Punjab looked unstoppable, with six victories in their opening seven matches that painted the picture of them being in complete control. They were fearless, playing a smart game. However, their strong momentum slipped midway through the campaign with four crushing consecutive defeats.
Their series of defeats have dragged them from a position of dominance into a tense situation for survival. Moreover, their latest setback against Delhi Capitals served them a huge blow, reminding them of staging their comeback in order to put themselves back into contention for the playoffs. Now sitting fourth on the table, Punjab are fighting to stay ahead of the chasing pack. The opportunity to reclaim the top spot was there, but it slipped away, leaving them dangerously close to the playoff scramble. Now, every match from here is a must-win contest for them.
For Mumbai Indians, there have no qualification equation left, but their pride still matters. Since their last IPL win back in 2020, MI have struggled to obtain the consistency that had made them an excellent team in the tournament. Having been eliminated from the tournament, MI now will look to play freely and spoil the ambitions of Punjab.
Head-to-head
Matches - 35
PBKS won - 18
MI won - 17
PBKS Probable XII: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (c), Marcus Stoinis, Shashank Singh, Suryansh Shedge, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett/Lockie Ferguson, Yash Thakur, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
MI Probable XII: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Will Jacks, Raj Angad Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, AM Ghazanfar, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashwani Kumar/Shardul Thakur