Punjab Kings will look to make the most of home comforts when they take on Mumbai Indians in their third consecutive Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium here on Thursday.
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Despite two straight defeats, the Kings will seek a revival of the campaign against a Mumbai side that is arresting itself on and off the field even after a demoralizing 20-run loss to league rivals Chennai Super Kings. at home
MI’s predicament is a sigh of relief as it begins a four-match long run on the road away from the Wankhede Stadium, which has seen a large section of the crowd vocally disapprove of the newly appointed captain. Hardik Pandya. All rounder’s Horrible 26 off the last over against CSKThis proved decisive, as it seemed to have arisen from a display of public discontent.
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After back-to-back wins against Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai showed signs of recovering from the change of leadership. Former skipper Rohit Sharma’s blistering start in the Powerplay, Ishan Kishan, was instrumental in both wins, but his unbeaten century against the Super Kings, almost 12 years since his last three in the IPL, proved a telling departure. In seven consecutive middling seasons, he crossed the 400-run staging post only once and never hit more than 135.
This season, Mumbai’s top seven batters are hitting more than 140 times and that gives the five-time champions some hope.
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Punjab, on the other hand, will worry about the woeful form of their top-order, which was the primary reason they failed to get over the line in close finishes against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals. Adding to the hosts’ worries is that its top scorer and captain Shikhar Dhawan is still nursing a shoulder injury.
Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma have supported the batting admirably from lower order positions and Kings would do well to promote them.
Punjab have a well-rounded bowling attack, and with Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh and stand-in captain Sam Curran finding their feet at various stages of the game, Mumbai’s power-packed line-up will have its work cut out.
But a certain Jasprit Bumrah, armed with a pitch that surrounds the new ball and keeps it low at times, could exacerbate Punjab’s batting vulnerability and prove decisive.