Mumbai Indians will take on Punjab Kings on Wednesday, April 13 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium (MCA) in Pune. The match will start at 7:30 PM. Talking about Mumbai, this team, which is known for its slow start, has lost its first four matches this time too. Check MI vs PBKS 23rd Match Preview, Indian Premier League 2023.
On the other hand, Punjab has won 2 out of 4 matches. The third win was snatched from PBKS by Tewatia hitting two sixes in the last two balls. By winning today's match, both the teams will try to return to the rhythm.
MI vs. PBKS: Match Preview
Apart from Surya, the rest of the players are not able to spread the shine
Mumbai Indians have looked very weak since the auction. The balance of the team has been disturbed due to the departure of the Pandya Brothers, Trent Boult, and Rahul Chahar. The bowling attack also hasn't looked anything special. Jasprit Bumrah is not able to create fear in the batsmen like before and a lot of runs are being scored on his balls from him. But Jasprit's record against Punjab has been excellent.
The bad form of Rohit Sharma as a batter
Rohit Sharma has been a flop in all four matches as a captain and as a batsman. Rohit has to play till the end if MI has to win the match. Suryakumar Yadav is falling alone in the batting for two consecutive innings and due to no runs from the other end, the team's total remains low. In such a situation, Rohit and Surya together can take Mumbai to a big score.
Inconsistency from young batters
There has been a lack of consistency in the batting of young players like Tilak Verma and Dewald Brevis. This is where the role of Mumbai's coaching staff becomes important. He should tell that big innings played in one match and getting out early in other matches is not the mark of a good player. Before the last match, the great batsman Sachin Tendulkar was seen giving tips to the players of Mumbai but perhaps the players could not follow his words from him.
Forgetting the storm of Tewatia, Punjab will come on the field
At the beginning of the season, Punjab did wonders by chasing a huge target of 205 runs against Bengaluru. Then in the second match, he lost to Kolkata and won against Chennai. In the fourth match, defending the target of 190 runs in front of Gujarat, Punjab lost the match due to the storm of Shubman Gill and Tewatia. In such a situation, Punjab Kings can make some changes in their bowling attack against Mumbai.
The form of Mayank is a concern for Punjab
Like Rohit Sharma, Punjab captain Mayank Agarwal is struggling with poor form. His failure from him is not giving the team a good start. It will be interesting to see who plays the other batsman with Liam Livingstone against Mumbai.
MY Probable XI: Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Kieron Pollard, Fabian Allen, Murugan Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Jaydev Unadkat/Tymal Mills, Basil Thampi.
PBKS Probable XI: Mayank Agarwal (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow/Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Shahrukh Khan, Odeon Smith, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Arora
