Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians are sort of in a critical position in the 2024 edition of the IPL and this clash and the result on Thursday could have a bearing on how the rest of their campaign goes for them. With the team they have, Mumbai Indians will be disappointed with the position they are on the points table with just two wins and four losses. However, they still have games and the pedigree to make it to the top four and even challenge for the title but they have to get a few things right, more than just cricket.
The outside noise hasn’t helped in MI’s case and it must be affecting the skipper Hardik Pandya somewhat. But can he and the Mumbai Indians turn it around, the destiny is still well in their hands. MI wouldn’t have asked for a better game to start over, given they will be up against a team that has had its own set of issues. The top-order is not working, the players are out of form, the regular skipper is injured. One thing they have gotten consistently right is their middle-order batting.
But that hasn’t been enough for them to force results in their favour. The bowling has done well in parts and struggled in others and the Men in Red would want to have a complete game before their home stretch in Mullanpur ends.
My Dream11 team for IPL 2024 Match No 33, PBKS vs MI
Ishan Kishan, Liam Livingstone, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hardik Pandya, Sam Curran, Ashutosh Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Tim David, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Harpreet Brar, Gerald Coetzee
Probable playing XIIs
Punjab Kings: Jonny Bairstow, Atharva Taide, Prabhsimran Singh, Sam Curran (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shashank Singh, Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Tim David, Mohammad Nabi, Romario Shepherd, Shreyas Gopal, Gerald Coetzee, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Madhwal