IPL 2021: Match 42, MI vs PBKS Preview, Playing XI, Live Streaming Details & Updates

Mumbai Indians have won five Indian Premier League titles. In each of those tournaments, Mumbai won one and lost one against Punjab. In fact, the head to head suggests that Mumbai has only won 14 against Punjab’s 13. This might sound absurd because Mumbai is the most successful team in the tournament’s history while Punjab has only ever made it to the top-four twice. 

When the battlefields are drawn in Abu Dhabi for round two of this rivalry in IPL 2021, the two teams look evenly matched, possibly for the first time. On the points table, Mumbai is ranked seventh. For a team as strong as Mumbai, this is pretty low. Punjab, on the other hand, is placed fifth, scrapping with a better net run rate. Both the teams have won four out of their ten matches. But, the momentum is better for one team than the other. 

Punjab Kings started their UAE leg with a shocking defeat where they almost went ahead and handed the two points to Rajasthan Royals. If they miss out on a playoff because of one win, that loss will come back to haunt them. But following on from that defeat, Punjab responded well. But, it does help if the weakest team in the competition is in front of. 

One can compliment Punjab for showing some great spirit by defending as low as 125 runs, but there’s another side to that story. Why did they get only 125 runs? That is simply because their middle order didn’t respond to the call. That has been the case for Punjab over the entire season, which has resulted in them having four of the five lowest first-innings scores in this tournament. If KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal make runs, they have a shot, else a sub-par score is on the cards. 

Speaking of middle-order collapses, Mumbai Indians slipped from 78 for 1 to 111 all out against Royal Challengers Bangalore in their last game. Suryakumar Yadav has looked good but only for a while, Ishan Kishan looks a touch out of sorts and Hardik Pandya can’t even buy runs at this moment. The rest of the team has had contributions here and there but not everything has come together for them. 

What works in Mumbai’s favor is their world-class pace bowling trio. Throw in a bit of leg-spin from Rahul Chahar, this is an ideal bowling unit for all conditions. What is also the good news is most of these Mumbai players are used to a situation where they need to win everything to qualify and over the years, they have made it a habit. If there was any situation for them to start staging a comeback, it is now and here. 

But, they should also remember that they have already been beaten by Punjab once in this tournament. But considering their own records from the past, we all know Mumbai will come good at one point. Punjab after their last game against Hyderabad has a few more things going for themselves as well. Their bowling looks solid and they seem to have found a good combination of XI to stick to. 

In all, the stakes are quite high for both the teams and a win is the need of the hour. Given this, both the teams will be pumped and expect a cracker of an affair. 

Pitch and conditions

The Abu Dhabi pitch has shown that it can slow down towards the end. As the ball gets old and it starts gripping from the surface, it is a whole different ball game. A score of 160 or 170 could be enough. But, there might be some dew, which allows an advantage for the team batting second. The ball does swing a bit in the early parts of the innings and runs may come all along in the innings, apart from the middle overs. But, if things go right, we might even see a high-scoring game. 

Playing combination for MI vs PBKS

Mumbai Indians 

After not being at full strength for two matches, Mumbai got back their ideal XI in the last game against RCB. But it didn’t really have a huge impact on the result. There is no reason why Mumbai will make a change, even though there are some worrying signs. Still, they will be unchanged. 

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

Punjab Kings

Dropping Chris Gayle was a controversial call and after the narrow loss against Rajasthan, they went back to him. Adil Rashid got dropped and Ravi Bishnoi made a comeback. Basically, in this team, one change brings two or three. KL Rahul might just stick to the same XI. 

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

MI vs PBKS Head-to-Head

Played – 27 | Mumbai Indians  – 14 | Punjab Kings – 13 |N/R – 0

MI vs PBKS Broadcast Details

Match Timings – 7:30 PM IST

TV – Star Sports Network

Live Streaming – Disney+Hotstar