IPL 2024 PBKS vs MI Preview - The Mumbai freight train derailed

Key match stats

Pitch Report – Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium IPL records

Pitch report from the 10 most recent IPL matches played at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium

Team form PBKS vs MI
PBKS: LLWLL
MI: LLWWL

Recent meetings: IPL 2023 - MI won by 6 wickets, PBKS won by 13 runs

Weather

General Forecast: Clear and Dry
Chance of dew: Low to Moderate

Preview PBKS vs MI

Mumbai Indians have introduced the sound of a freight train into their stadium effects at the Wankhede this season. On the basis of their performances against DC and RCB that seemed appropriate and MI would have felt confident of continuing to steam through CSK on Sunday night too.

However, despite a magnificent century from Rohit Sharma, only his 2nd IPL ton in a career spanning 249 matches, MI could not continue that momentum. Instead, they were given a lesson by CSK in why brute strength and hitting power alone won't be enough to win a 6th title.

In fact, it rightly leaves MI with the tag of 'flat track bullies'. Victories at home against weak DC and RCB bowling attacks were to be expected but the jury is still out on whether Mumbai have the tools and the tactical nous to win against better opposition and/or in less favourable conditions.

Today's opponents in Punjab Kings are hardly high fliers themselves but their bowling attack is certainly a lot more capable than the 2 sides that MI have beaten so far in IPL 2024. Equally, the conditions during the first 3 IPL matches played at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium don't suggest a pitch where batsmen can just merrily swing through the line of the ball with care free abandon. This fixture will therefore be a challenge for MI.

The average powerplay score at the Maharaja Yadavindra Stadium has been just 43.7 but is that due to a poor surface or just poor batting?

For their part, PBKS have been involved in 3 powerplays of 40 or fewer runs so far this season, with 2 of those efforts occurring here in Mullanpur. In previous seasons, we've seen PBKS throw caution to the wind, get off to a fast start but lose too many wickets, impacting their ability to build through the innings. This year they've scored neither freely or maintained wickets and are heavily reliant on their lower middle order to dig them out of holes.

Again it suggests a batting line-up devoid of both skills and tactical awareness and they'll need to improve both in order to beat this MI side. If nothing else, playing MI at the moment comes down to understanding which bowlers to target. CSK played out Bumrah's 4 overs for 27 runs and the loss of no wickets. By contrast, they targetted the likes of Madwhal, Hardik and Shepherd who between them went at over 14 an over from the 8 overs they collectively bowled.

Opponents	Score	Over
DC	100/4	11.4
RCB	98/4	12.1
LSG	141/4	16.2
GT	70/4	8.4
SRH	58/4	9.1
RR	52/4	9.3

Punjab King's increasingly weak position at the fall of the 4th wicket

PBKS and everyone else would be wise to follow suit. However, they must assume that Bumrah will be held back to bowl 2 of the last 5 overs which means that the Punjab top and middle order will need to contribute far more than they have done in recent games. Leaving themselves with work to do late in the innings against the best fast bowler in the league is not likely to yield positive results!

PBKS MI head to head

MI bowling vs PBKS batting

Punjab's top order and general plight is not helped by a further injury to captain Shikhar Dhawan. Atharva Taide was brought in as a replacement and he'll hope to replicate some of his domestic form in the IPL. Taide averaged 43 with a strike rate of 170 for Vidarbha in Syed Musthaq Ali trophy this season.

Sam Curran head to head Bumrah T20 cricket

Most English batsmen will be sick of the sight of Jasprit Bumrah after the Test series earlier in the year. Bumrah dismissed Bairstow a couple of times in that series and while the 2 haven't faced each other with any regularity in the T20 format, Bairstow seems keen on survival when he does striking at just 63.6.

The most damming stat for this PBKS batting line-up is that none of their batsmen have passed the 200 run mark so far this season. Shikhar Dhawan currently has 152 runs, the fewest runs for a leading scorer at any franchise in IPL 2024. The gold standard for top order players is to reach 400 runs in an IPL season and for a side to be successful at least 2 batsmen need to get there if not beyond. Punjab simply do not have the quality in their side to suggest they are capable of that.

Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma combined death over batting stats in IPL 2024

Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma have given loyal Punjabi fans something to cheer about this season with some excellent hitting at the death. However, that's not likely to be enough to see PBKS end their decade long wait for a playoff spot.

PBKS bowling vs MI batting

Where Punjab are enjoying success this season and particularly from the 3 games they've played at their new ground here in Mullanpur is with the ball. The 4 seamers they've used on the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh pitch so far this season have collected 20 wickets between them at an impressive strike rate. While a team has a bowling attack that takes wickets they are still a threat - just ask RCB what happens when the reverse is true!

All PBKS pace bowlers IPL Record at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium

It's no surprise to see Rohit Sharma delivering the kind of form that has alluded him for a long time in the IPL now that he's been released from the burden of captaincy. The man has one of, if not the hardest job in world cricket as the multi-format captain of India. He even looks tired in the official photo used on the info graphic below!

Rohit Sharma head to head Rabada T20 cricket

Rohit and Ishan Kishan have been excellent so far this season and between them are staking a claim to be India's opening combination at the T20 World Cup that follows this year's IPL.

Below the opening pair things haven't quite clicked yet for MI. Tilak Varma has played a couple of nice knocks but with his talent, he should be capable of doing more. Sky has gone duck, magnificent half-century, duck so MI will be hoping that he can find a bit of consistency. While Hardik Pandya has played a couple of good cameos and at other times gotten very stuck in his run scoring.

Sky head to head Sam Curran T20 cricket

Sam Curran has returned to form when asked to bowl at the death this season after a difficult IPL 2023. With Harshal Patel in the side it does mean that Curran can generally bowl just 1 of the last 5 overs as opposed to the 2 he more often than not bowled last year. He's struck 6 times, in 6 death overs in IPL 2024 and is going at a very useful economy of 8.4. Still, the head to head records of a couple of these MI batsmen against him suggest that he'll have his work cut out to maintain those figures.

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All stats used in this blog are from my own databases which are freely accessible below
IPL player head to head records
IPL player records by stadium
IPL stadium records.
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