Dharamsala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], May 14 (ANI): The 2025 season runners-up, Punjab Kings (PBKS) will be aiming to snap their four-match run of losses when they take on five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at Dharamsala on Thursday, a fixture offering plenty of exciting match-ups and the possibility of a massive Rohit Sharma milestone happening.
After a dream start to the season, which spanned six wins and a no result, a total of seven unbeaten matches, PBKS’ mid-season slump has been hard to watch as a minor dip in their batting and growing concerns around their bowling and fielding have resulted in four successive losses. A ninth-placed MI, already out of playoff contention, could be an easy target for PBKS.
Here are some noteworthy talking points, milestones, match-ups ahead of the clash:
-Arshdeep Singh’s match-up with Ryan Rickelton
Arshdeep, who bounced back to form with a solid two-wicket spell against Delhi Capitals (DC) is in need of consistency, having offered very little glimpses of his genius this season.
He has a positive match-up against a red-hot Rickelton, having dismissed him thrice in seven T20s and conceeding just 51 runs. Rickelton averages just 17 against the Indian left-armer and strikes at 118.6. He has hit six fours and two sixes against Arshdeep in 43 balls, as per ESPNCricinfo.
-Rohit approaching a major milestone
The MI superstar is one half-century away from completing 50 IPL fifties, a milestone only completed by Virat Kohli, David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan, as per ESPNCricinfo. Having missed a considerable chunk of game time due to a hamstring injury, one just wonders how the season’s Orange Cap list would have looked had Rohit played every game. In six matches, he has scored 243 runs at an average of 48.60 and a strike rate of 177.37, with two fifties.
With 7,289 runs in 278 matches and 273 innings, Rohit is the second-highest IPL run-getter. His runs have come at an average of 30.11, with a strike rate of 133.22, including two centuries and 49 fifties.
-PBKS skipper Iyer approaching 1,000-run mark with PBKS, 7,000 T20 runs
It has not been a smooth sailing for the ‘Sarpanch Sahab’ with the bat and as a captain since a while, but he has a milestone to look forward to. He is just four runs away from completing 1,000 runs for PBKS, scoring 996 runs in 28 matches and 27 innings at an average of 52.42 and a strike rate of 170.54, with 11 fifties.
He is also 30 runs away from 7,000 T20 runs. In 251 T20s, he has made 6,970 runs at an average of 34.85 and a strike rate of 137.91, including three centuries and 44 fifties in 244 innings, with the best score of 147.
This season in 11 matches and 10 innings, Iyer has scored 392 runs at an average of 56.00 and a strike rate of 164.01, including five fifties and a best score of 71, as per ESPNCricinfo.
-A clash between two biggest underperformers with the ball
This clash is between two of the biggest underperformers with the ball this season, with PBKS having an economy rate of 10.41 (second worst) and MI at 10.59 (worst). Their pace attacks have been two of the worst ones, with PBKS having an ER of 10.76 among pacers (worst), while MI is slightly behind with 10.59 (second-worst).
Squads:
Mumbai Indians Squad: Ryan Rickelton(w), Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Tilak Varma, Will Jacks, Raj Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, AM Ghazanfar, Trent Boult, Raghu Sharma, Mayank Rawat, Robin Minz, Shardul Thakur, Quinton de Kock, Hardik Pandya, Keshav Maharaj, Ashwani Kumar, Mayank Markande, Sherfane Rutherford, Danish Malewar, Krish Bhagat, Mohammed Salahuddin Izhar
Punjab Kings Squad: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer(c), Marcus Stoinis, Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Marco Jansen, Ben Dwarshuis, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar, Yash Thakur, Xavier Bartlett, Vishnu Vinod, Praveen Dubey, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Lockie Ferguson, Azmatullah Omarzai, Nehal Wadhera, Mitchell Owen, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash, Vishal Nishad. (ANI)
Related reading
