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Live: MI Vs PBKS, Match 31, Mumbai | IPL Live Score & Commentary | Mumbai Vs Punjab Live, Last 10 Ov
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Preview: Mumbai Indians' IPL 2023 campaign is back on track. Three wins on the bounce in five games is not a bad start that the five-time champions. After two reversals upfront, the situation appears rose-tinted for the Rohit Sharma side. All hunky dory. Why not?
Ishan Kishan has started firing on all cylinders; Suryakumar Yadav has regained his imperious touch; Cameron Green and Tim David are doing their jobs impeccably, Riley Meredith and Jason Behrendorff are bowling well in tandem, veteran Piyush Chawla is being at his wily best, unleashing all his experience to fox the batters and even rookie Arjun Tendulkar has started being penetrative as well as restrictive.
It is such a pleasant situation that few remember that Rohit has only one half-century across formats in 12 innings. But then there can be little complaints about the skipper's form. He has been providing blazing starts with the bat and the rest of the team is able to exploit that. Mumbai Indians, suddenly, seem to have got their mojo back.
"The team is gelling together really nicely. All the top six batters have had an impact. So that's a very exciting thing for us. Guys are getting some quality game time. The main thing for us is to keep looking to get that little bit better in each game. We have won a couple of games now and we'll just try to continue to build on that momentum," said Behrendorff, who has taken up the responsibility of spearheading the bowling in the absence of Jofra Archer.
The Archer situation has become a sort of mystery. He was initially left out of a game as a precaution but has not played four games on the trot since. On Friday, the eve of Mumbai Indians' sixth match, against Punjab Kings, the Barbados-born English bowler was absent from the practice session. "It is an optional practice day," said a team official. It's not certain if he would be available for Saturday's game at the Wankhede.
"He has been training strongly. The medical team is working tirelessly. We are waiting for the medical team to tick off (all boxes). Hopefully, he is not far away (from being fully fit)," said Behrendorff on Friday. It's a fact that Archer's participation has become uncertain but he is certainly not being missed by the team. The rest of the bowlers, including Tendulkar Jr, seems to be doing their job commendably.
The situation is totally opposite for Punjab Kings, who have lost way after a fine start. They won the first two games and managed only one more in the next four and are in danger of slipping into the position of being perennial underachievers of the IPL.
The team needs Shikhar Dhawan on the top, something Harbhajan Singh rightly said. "The Punjab side seems largely dependent on their captain Shikhar Dhawan in the batting department which is a concern. While depending on one player, you can win two or three matches but you cannot win a tournament like the IPL. The rest of Punjab players will have to support their captain and take responsibility if they wish to go forward," the former India spinner recently said of the Mohali side.
The Punjab Kings have got a quality batsman in Matthew Short but they need Liam Livingston to fire in the middle overs besides hoping that Kagiso Rabada will be fine to take the field. The South African was reportedly under the weather for the home game against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday. He has travelled to Mumbai and a team official said he is expected to be fit for Friday's game. The Punjab side needs him badly.
Mumbai Indians Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Arjun Tendulkar, Hrithik Shokeen, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff, Riley Meredith, Ramandeep Singh, Kumar Kartikeya, Shams Mulani, Vishnu Vinod, Duan Jansen, Sandeep Warrier, Jofra Archer, Akash Madhwal, Arshad Khan, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Raghav Goyal
Punjab Kings Squad: Atharva Taide, Prabhsimran Singh, Matthew Short, Liam Livingstone, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Sam Curran(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Nathan Ellis, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar, Sikandar Raza, Kagiso Rabada, Rishi Dhawan, Mohit Rathee, Shivam Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Baltej Singh, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Gurnoor Brar
Score card: crex.live
