In the 42nd match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, Mumbai Indians (MI) and Punjab Kings (PBKS) will be locking horns with each other on 28th September at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. In the tournament so far, MI has won 4 of their 10 matches, and are currently placed at the seventh position on the points table. On the similar note hand, PBKS is in the same situation and are standing fifth on the table.
In their last game against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), MI suffered a loss by 54 runs. Against RCB’s 165 runs, MI only managed to reach the total of just 111 runs for the loss of their all 10 wickets and lost their third consecutive game. On the other hand, PBKS locked horns with Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Sharjah where they won the game by 5 runs.
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While batting first, Punjab Kings stacked 125 runs on the board, which SRH was unable to chase and ended up losing the game by a narrow margin of 5 runs. MI and PBKS have played 27 matches against each other in the history of IPL so far, where the Mumbai-based franchise has won 14 matches while Punjab Kings won 13 games. The last time they played against each other in this season, PBLS registered a comfortable 9-wicket win.
Mumbai Indians (MI)
Hardik Pandya has returned to the side against RCB but he didn’t bowl. Even as Mumbai Indians have been hesitant to use Jasprit Bumrah a lot on the powerplay, there might be a good reason for them to do so against Punjab. He has dismissed Mayank Agarwal 3 times in 14 balls, and conceded only 6 runs. There are also enough reasons for Mumbai Indians to consider including Dhawal Kulkarni in the XI as he has dismissed KL Rahul four times and Chris Gayle thrice.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Adam Milne, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult
Punjab Kings (PBKS)
Even as Nathan Ellis bowled well in the death in the previous game, still there is a chance if including Chris Jordan on a bigger ground in Abu Dhabi. Most likely though, Punjab Kings are expected to retain their XI. The in-form Mohammed Shami will come handy in the slog overs against the out-of-form Pandya brothers. The pacer has dismissed both Krunal and Hardik thrice, in 15 and 13 balls respectively.
Probable XI: KL Rahul (c/wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Harpreet Brar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Nathan Ellis, Arshdeep Singh
Fantasy XI Suggestion 1:
KL Rahul (C), Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Aiden Markram, Mayank Agarwal, Suryakumar Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Mohammad Shami, Rahul Chahar, Nathan Ellis
Fantasy XI Suggestion 2:
KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock (VC), Nicholas Pooran, Rohit Sharma (C), Aiden Markram, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Trent Boult, Nathan Ellis
