Former India player Aakash Chopra has said that the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the RCB will win their respective final IPL 2025 league games and qualify for Qualifier 1 as well. He added that both sides would also meet in the final.
MI will play against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Match 69 of IPL 2025 in Jaipur on Monday, May 26 as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra,’ he said, “Mumbai want to win this match, and if they win, they will finish in the top two. It didn’t seem like this could happen. This never looked possible at all, but all the other teams have dropped so many matches that it seems like it could happen now. If they drop this match, they too won’t qualify (for Qualifier 1). It’s not that they have been given it on a platter.”
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“I feel the scales are tilted towards Mumbai because the team is looking better. They are moving like a juggernaut. It seems slightly difficult to stop them. I feel Mumbai and RCB will finish as the top two, and the final will also be Mumbai-RCB,” he further added.
However, Aakash Chopra picked the Mumbai Indians’ batting, especially Suryakumar Yadav’s sublime form, as their biggest strength against the Punjab Kings as well.
“What are Mumbai’s strengths? Their strength is their dangerous batting. Suryakumar Yadav’s incredible form. He has scored 25-plus runs consecutively in so many games and is in the Orange Cap race. More importantly, he is batting differently in different stages. If someone has a superpower, they have Surya power,” he said.
“You will see Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton batting together for the last time. Both batted incredibly well the last time they played at this ground. This ground is good for both, and they are in good form as well. Ryan Rickelton will leave after this and will want to leave a good memory before leaving. It’s the last game for Will Jacks as well. You will see him at No. 3 for now. Batting has a lot of might. Batting is this team’s strength, but the bowling is not weak. Mitchell Santner might again play here because it’s a big ground, or else they could have played Corbin Bosch,” Aakash Chopra concluded.
