MI vs PBKS 31st Match Prediction

MI vs PBKS Team Previews

Mumbai Indians

After suffering from back-to-back losses at the start of the season, the Mumbai Indians have made a dramatic turnaround, winning each of its last 3 matches, and have slowly but surely climbed up the rankings on the points table.

Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma, who had a sedate start to the season, have gradually regained form and given the team some good starts in the last couple of matches. Both players play aggressively and attempt to maximize the powerplay but they don't always stay at the crease for a long time.

Cameron Green played a vital inning of 64 runs in the Mumbai Indian’s latest fixture against the Sunrisers Hyderabad to propel them to a match-winning total. With Tilak Varma in good form too, the Mumbai Indians seem to have a decent batting line-up at their disposal. Speaking of Varma, he is easily the best batter for MI right now and could find himself in the Indian national team sooner rather than later.

In the bowling department, while most of the bowlers have chipped in, there has been no standout performer for the team. Piyush Chawla is the leading wicket-taker for the team with 7 wickets, while Jason Behrendorff has taken 6. Arjun Tendulkar, who has played a couple of games now, looks promising but only time will tell how effective he is, especially in the death overs. 

The bowling unit is weak without Archer and Bumrah. It has been getting away in the last few matches but this part of the game is a clear weakness for MI.

Punjab Kings

The Punjab Kings haven’t been consistent this season, winning 3 matches and losing 3 matches, including their latest match played against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

The batting has been one of the weakest links for Punjab Kings, and with Shikhar Dhawan missing the last couple of matches due to an injured shoulder, it appears to be particularly vulnerable at the moment. In the match against the Royals, none of the batsmen other than Prabhsimran Singh and Jitesh Sharma managed to impress.

The team has some big names including Matthew Short, Liam Livingstone, and Bhanuka Rajapaksa in the middle order, but they have been rather inconsistent so far. Here is the thing, though. This batting lineup is likely to enjoy the conditions in Mumbai. Also, we think the MI bowling lineup is one of the weakest and someone like Livingstone or Short could really lay into it.

Arshdeep Singh will once again lead the new-ball attack for the Punjab Kings. He has done a good job so far, picking up 9 wickets, and will be supported by Sam Curran and Nathan Ellis. Harpreet Brar has been pretty economical with his left-arm orthodox spin and has also picked up 4 wickets. However, Rahul Chahar has been struggling to make an impact.

PBKS hqas not had its best players available and we think it is still struggling to find the right balance. Rajapaksa for Short will be something the management thinks about carefully.