Shreyas Iyer’s Punjab Kings won the toss and chose to field against Mumbai Indians at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. This match is crucial as the victor is guaranteed a place in the top two of the league standings.
Punjab Kings made notable changes to their line-up. Kyle Jamieson, filling in temporarily for Lockie Ferguson, gets a chance to make his mark. Vijaykumar Vyshak, who has only played once since the tournament opener, is included for his third outing. Meanwhile, Marco Jansen is in the XII, despite earlier suggestions he would leave to prepare for the World Test Championship final against Australia at Lord’s on 11 June. Yuzvendra Chahal is absent, resting a finger injury.
Mumbai Indians enter the match fresh, having recently defeated Delhi Capitals. They have adjusted their squad with left-arm seamer Ashwani Kumar prepared to contribute as an Impact Player.
Reflecting on the season, Hardik Pandya shared, “The last seven-eight games have been a must-win for us. We’ve needed a lot of results to go our way for us to be in this position [have a shot at the top two]. We were not in this position a week ago, today we are. There’s a lot of excitement.”
Shreyas Iyer emphasised the importance of the day for Punjab Kings: “You can’t take it as another day. We have to upgrade the game and mindset and I thrive under pressure.”
Punjab Kings XI: Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Josh Inglis (wicketkeeper), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Harpreet Brar, Marco Jansen, Kyle Jamieson, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak.
Impact Subs for PBKS: Prabhsimaran Singh, Suryansh Shedge, Musheer Khan, Xavier Bartlett, Praveen Dubey.
Mumbai Indians XI: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (wicketkeeper), Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (captain), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult.
Impact Subs for MI: Ashwani Kumar, Corbin Bosch, Karn Sharma, Raj Bawa, Satyanarayana Raju.
It promises to be an engaging encounter as both teams vie for a top-two spot, offering plenty of narrative for cricket enthusiasts to digest.
