Mumbai Indians and Lucknow Super Giants meet at a crossroads

By Hemant Brar, ESPN CRICINFO, April 27:

Big picture: Same, same but different

It's not important where you are right now; what matters is the direction you are headed in. This aphorism applies to all walks of life, including IPL 2025. Just past the halfway stage, Mumbai Indians (MI) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) find themselves at the same junction but heading in opposite directions.

Both teams are in the middle of the points table with five wins each from nine games. In those five wins, five different players from each team have won the Player-of-the-Match award. For MI, it has been Ashwani Kumar, Karn Sharma, Will Jacks, Rohit Sharma and Trent Boult. For LSG, Shardul Thakur, Digvesh Rathi, Nicholas Pooran, Aiden Markram and Avesh Khan.

Let's talk about the differences now. MI had a typical slow start to their campaign, losing four of their first five games. But with four successive wins since then, things are looking up for them. Rohit has returned to form with two successive 70s, Boult is living up to the expectations at the death, and Jasprit Bumrah, after missing the first four games, is back to his usual business.

"I've always felt that once everyone starts clicking in this team, it is going to be complete domination," their captain Hardik Pandya said after the win against Sunrisers Hyderabad. With that confidence and momentum, they enter Sunday afternoon's game.

LSG, on the other hand, has faced two defeats in its last three games. They did win three in a row after a shaky start but things are not looking good for them at the moment. Rishabh Pant and David Miller are yet to fire, making their middle order one of the weakest in the league. After a blistering start to the season, Pooran has had scores of 8, 11 and 9 in his last three innings, which has exposed their middle order further.

What's in LSG's favour is their 6-1 head-to-head record against MI. It includes their win from earlier this season, when MI retired out Tilak Varma in their unsuccessful chase of 204. But this time MI will be playing at home, where they have three wins in four outings so far.

Form guide

Mumbai Indians WWWL (last five matches, most recent first)

Lucknow Super Giants LWLWW

Team news and likely XIIs: Where is Mayank Yadav?

It's unlikely that MI will tinker with their winning combination.

Mumbai Indians (probable): 1 Ryan Rickelton (wk), 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Will Jacks, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Hardik Pandya (capt), 7 Naman Dhir, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Jasprit Bumrah, 12 Vignesh Puthur

In their last two games, LSG brought in Ayush Badoni as Impact Player in the first innings of the match itself, which meant Mayank Yadav stayed on the bench. One also wonders if Mayank's fitness has something to do with his not being named in the XI in the first place.

Lucknow Super Giants (probable): 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Mitchell Marsh, 3 Nicholas Pooran, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 5 Ayush Badoni, 6 David Miller, 7 Abdul Samad, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Digvesh Rathi, 11 Avesh Khan, 12 Prince Yadav

In the spotlight: Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant

Before this IPL started, there were whispers about Suryakumar Yadav's form. In February, against England, he had managed only 28 runs in five T20Is at a strike rate of 116.66. Since then, he has played nine innings in the IPL and has scored at least 25 in each of them. Overall, he is the leading run-getter for MI with 373 at a strike rate of 166.51. The only thing missing is his trademark, jaw-dropping knock.

This being the last IPL before the 2026 T20 World Cup makes it an audition for the global tournament, and Rishabh Pant seems to have flunked it. He has just 106 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 96.36. Five times he has been dismissed in singles figures. His coming in at No. 7 against Delhi Capitals after an animated chat with team mentor Zaheer Khan did not paint a good picture either.

The big question

With Pant struggling and Miller not getting enough balls to face at times, should LSG have Miller at No. 4 and Pant down the order?

Key stats: Bumrah vs Pant and Pooran

- Bumrah has a favourable match-up against Pant in the IPL: 46 balls, 55 runs, seven dismissals. He has also dismissed Pooran twice in 18 balls while conceding only 13 runs.

- Mitchell Santner is one of the rare left-arm spinners to have some success against Pooran in T20 cricket. He has dismissed him twice in 20 balls while giving away just 25 runs.

- Hardik has fallen to Avesh three times in 37 balls while scoring only 32 runs in this tournament.

- Rohit scored 76 not out and 70 in his last two innings. This is the first time since 2016 that he has scored back-to-back fifties in the IPL.

- Among those who have bowled at least five overs in the death, Rathi (7.66) has the best economy, followed by Bumrah (7.75). Hardik is at the bottom of the list with 16.20.

Pitch and conditions

The Wankhede Stadium has hosted four games so far this season, including all-night games. MI won the toss every time and opted to field. They won three of them, when they restricted the opposition to a below-par total. Sunday's match, though, will be played in the hot and humid afternoon and could force a change in strategy.

Quotes

"It's an afternoon game, we think bowlers will get some help as well. It's all batters' game as you've seen. So hope that bowlers also get something in tomorrow's afternoon game, maybe it will be a little dry or something like that."

LSG legspinner Ravi Bishnoi is hoping for something from the pitch at a small ground