After two close games, Punjab Kings (PBKS) take on Mumbai Indians (MI) in match 33 of the IPL 2024 season at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur on Thursday, April 18, 2024. In the ongoing IPL season, the Punjab Kings have won only two and lost four matches so far. They are currently in 7th place in the points table. On the other hand, the Mumbai Indians also have won only two and lost four matches so far. They are currently in 8th place in the points table. Today's fixture is an important game, as both PBKS and MI need to pick up winning momentum as the IPL 2024 league phase nears the halfway stage.

Mumbai's mighty batting unit takes on Punjab's bowlers in Mullanpur

Punjab Kings captain Shikhar Dhawan is the only batter with more than 150 runs this IPL season, but unfortunately, he's going to miss Thursday's game with a shoulder injury. On the other hand, Mumbai's openers have given them off to a flier this season. The 308 runs between Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan is the second-highest for the first wicket this year. They have been ultra-aggressive at the start, scoring more than 11 runs an over. The home side hasn't had such a start. Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow have only scored 168 runs at 8.33 runs an over. With Dhawan injured for their previous game against the Rajasthan Royals, the Punjab Kings had to open with Bairstow and Atharva Taide.

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— JioCinema (@JioCinema) April 18, 2024

Though Mumbai's batting has been much better than Punjab's, they are just below the Kings in 8th place in the points table with four points from six games. Despite Jasprit Bumrah's brilliance in the IPL 2024 season so far (10 wickets at an average of 14.60 and an economy rate of 6.08), Mumbai Indians have been below par with the ball the season. Their collective average of 35.72 and economy rate of 10.04 is the third worst among the ten teams. On the flip side, Punjab has the best bowling average (25.20) and the fourth-best economy rate (8.87) this season, thanks to their home ground, Mullanpur. Teams have generally struggled to score quickly in the powerplay in Mullanpur.

Meanwhile, here's a look at the stats and numbers game ahead of the Punjab Kings vs Mumbai Indians clash:

Head-to-Head:

PBKS and MI have met each other 31 times in the Indian Premier League's history with the Punjab Kings winning on 14 occasions and the Mumbai Indians clinching 16 victories. One game resulted in Tie.

Stats That Matter:

1. Rohit Sharma will become only the second player after MS Dhoni to play 250 matches in the IPL

2. Arshdeep Singh has dismissed Ishan Kishan three times in the IPL but has leaked runs against him. Ishan Kishan has a strike rate of 208.3 against Arshdeep. Against Kagiso Rabada, Kishan has got out only once, smashing 58 runs off 33 balls.

3. Rohit Sharma has a strike rate of 148 against Rabada for two dismissals in the IPL. In all T20s, he has been dismissed four times in 74 balls for 89 runs. Rohit has also struggled against Harshal Patel, who has dismissed him three times, giving just 27 runs.

4. The player battle between Kagiso Rabada and Suryakumar Yadav could be the contest to watch out for. Kagiso Rabada has dismissed Suryakumar Yadav three times but has leaked runs against him (94 runs off 52 balls).

Approaching Milestones:

1 - Shikhar Dhawan (99) needs another catch to reach 100 catches in IPL.

2 - Suryakumar Yadav (298) needs another six sixes to reach 300 sixes in T20s.

2 - Mohammed Nabi (348) needs another two fours to reach 400 fours in T20s.

5 - Mohammed Nabi (345) needs five scalps to reach the landmark of 350 wickets in the T20 format.

28 - Rohit Sharma (6472) needs another twenty-eight runs to reach 6500 runs in IPL.

60 - Hardik Pandya (2440) needs another sixty runs to reach 2500 runs in IPL.

68 - Liam Livingstone (932) needs another sixty-eight runs to reach 1000 runs in IPL.

90 - Tilak Varma (910) needs another ninety runs to reach 1000 runs in IPL.