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IPL 2021 | MI vs PBKS - It is 'do or die' for both Mumbai & Punjab in Abu Dhabi

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Punjab Kings vs Mumbai Indians, scheduled to be played on Tuesday, 28 September will be the 42nd game of this edition of the Indian Premier League being hosted at the moment in the UAE.

When you are playing the 42nd game in the 56-match-long season, there are no excuses to why you are not performing at the required level. 

In the immortal lines of Alfred Lord Tennyson,

Theirs not to make reply,

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do and die.


It is indeed going to be a do or die game for both teams when they meet each other in Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Now that Rajasthan have lost a shocker against SRH and KKR (assuming accumulating an unlikely victory against ‘team-to-beat DC) both Mumbai and Punjab need to rise up to the occasion and grab a hold of those two crucial points that might just push them to the final playoff spot.

Why do I say final? Because, there is no stopping the top two, CSK and DC, who have 16 points each and a healthy run rate. RCB have 12 points from 10 games and hence, it means that it will be a four way battle between MI, KKR, PBKS and RR who will vie for the fourth spot in the table.

At the time of writing, Rajasthan despite looking good early on lost the game comprehensively owing to a Jason Roy blizzard and now are tied with the three other teams in terms of points. This means that the Samson-led franchisee let go off the chance to go up to the fourth spot in the table, in which case they would have dismantled Kolkata Knight Riders. Now that position 4-7 are tied with 8 points and Rajasthan slipping down to 6th, this provides a golden opportunity for Punjab and Mumbai to pull away.

Recent form

Both teams are coming off contrasting results in the final games. While Punjab finally got their campaign back on track against wooden spoon holders SRH, MI were wrapped up by a resilient RCB despite being ahead in the chase till the halfway point of the second innings.

Chasing 166 runs in the Dubai International Stadium, MI were 79-1 even in the 10th over before the bizarre collapse struck the Rohit Sharma led team.

After both openers went back in the hut, MI were bowled out by RCB for just 111 runs in 18.1 overs. Their last 7 wickets fell in a space of just 18 runs.

Who has more at stake?

Coming back from such defeats are difficult. The Mumbai team have not found themselves in these waters for a while now, but it will be wrong to say that they have not been here before.

Back in 2015, Mumbai, under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma had just 2 points from their first six matches. At a time when most considered their season finished, they hit back with 5 wins on a trot (7 wins out of their last 8) managing to storm into the playoffs spot. They won that edition a in a final where they thoroughly dominating the Chennai Super Kings.

So, Mumbai have done it before and they can do it again. The task will be cut out for them as they face DC, RR and SRH after this game, and two of those games have the potential to be a nail biter.

For Punjab, it is a different story. They are better off than Mumbai only in terms of run rate and have three of the toughest oppositions to face in their final three games. This makes it all the more important to win this match against a struggling side so that they can carry some momentum going into the final three against KKR, RCB and CSK.

Match Details

Match no.: 42

Date and time: September 28, 7:30 PM IST

Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Pitch Report

The stadium of Abu Dhabi has been a decent wicket to play on but with the tournament nearing the end, things have gotten very sticky in the UAE. However unlike Sharjah, this wicket does not turn and grip rapidly and nor does it swing wild in the early phase of the match like Abu Dhabi.

In the last game played here in this ground between CSK and MI, the wicket was slow and it was dry. While the Kolkata spinners enjoyed their day out, it was actually Shardul Thakur who brought Chennai back in the game.

Throughout the innings Shardul kept changing his lengths, which not only gave him a wicket maiden, but helped Chennai control the run rate as well.

Shardul finished his 4 overs for 20 runs and a wicket.

Considering that this is a night game, teams winning should opt to bowl first but the decision matters little as big change in pitch conditions is not expected.

Team News

Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians are coming into the game after a horrendous loss against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Chasing 167, MI at a time were cruising at 75-1 after the ninth over of the game. However, disaster struck after Rohit Sharma got dismissed by Glenn Maxwell in the final ball of the 10th over and from there, Mumbai were wrapped up for just 111 runs in 18.1 overs.

The form of Mumbai’s middle order is turning out to be a huge point of concern and it is possible that we might get see Krunal Pandya getting dropped for this game. They also need the likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan to bat with clarity, something, that hasn’t been a feature since the restart of the tournament. 

Hardik Pandya also did not look at 100 per cent in the last game and did not bowl a single over against CSK. Hence there is potential for two changes, Anmolpreet Singh and Saurabh Tiwary coming in for the Pandya brothers. 

However, in a slow track, Krunal might just be given one more chance while Saurabh Tiwary might be brought in to strengthen the middle order.

Probable XI

Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Saurabh Tiwary/Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Adam Milne, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah 

Punjab Kings

The entire tournament Punjab Kings have been criticised for their inability to play with a consistent combination. Their last game against SRH was as perfect from the bowling department as it could have been and they should play with the same XI.

The team though, is not free of problems. The management would be asking hard questions to the middle order who have not fired in most games. Punjab would want the likes of Nicholas Pooran to step up after the amount of trust they have shown in the Trinidadian.

Probable XI

KL Rahul (c/wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Harpreet Brar, Nathan Ellis, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh

MI vs PBKS: Fantasy XI

Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Aiden Markram, Deepak Hooda, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar, Nathan Ellis, Ravi Bishnoi

Captain: Mayank Agarwal

Vice-captain: Rohit Sharma

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Having seen his career at crossroads, he decided to explore career opportunities in franchise cricket and by the time England recalled him to the Test squad against India in Chennai, he was already destined on a different path. "That did break me a little bit. I felt like I had a poor game [at Edgbaston in 2019] and rightly got dropped. But I felt I was at my peak in my bowling to that point. If you look back now, I didn't play towards the back end of the World Cup. We then had a Test against Ireland in which I hardly bowled and then two days of training for the first Ashes Test. It rained on those days, so I bowled indoors. "So, I didn't really get the preparation I would have liked and I didn't bowl very well in that game. But I felt like I was still at the peak of my bowling. Prior to that, I was bowling better than I ever had in Test cricket. And then I didn't get a contract. I had asked for a break and was told it was because they weren't sure how much I was going to play. It was very disappointing at the time. So I looked to crack on and play franchise cricket. "But then it possibly took too long to make my way back into the team. I didn't play enough first-class cricket and by the time I did get back into the team for that one Test in Chennai, I was on a different path. I don't think I lost interest in Test cricket but I think I lost the ability to do it as best as you can. Moeen was in contention to play another Ashes series in Australia irrespective of his harrowing record in the country and he admitted that the ambition of playing a high-profile series on the pitches he has not done well so far crossed his mind. However, he chose to walk out of it citing his own uncertainty and said that the feeling he developed while playing against India was strong enough to call it a day. "There was part of me thinking about the Ashes this winter. I would have loved to go back and do well because last time I didn't do so well. 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