IPL 2018: Match preview of Punjab vs Mumbai

Ashwin-led Punjab take on Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai on Friday at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore for the first time in Indian Premier League 2018.

Ashwin-led Punjab is currently sitting at the fourth position at points table with ten points.

On the other hand, bottom-placed Mumbai have to look for solutions of the problems that have prevailed throughout the tournament because of which the defending champions Mumbai are on the verge of exiting the tournament.

Both Punjab and Mumbai lost their previous encounters against Hyderabad and Bangalore respectively but got enough time to revamp the strategies to earn two crucial points tonight.

Mumbai batsmen have suffered the problem of poor start and the bowlers have failed miserably with the new ball. As a team, Mumbai also failed in handling the pressure, especially in the death overs.

Mumbai's way to playoffs are now very difficult but one more defeat for Punjab will cost them big time.

For Punjab, the team is balanced and any unnecessary experiment is not required but Ashwin might consider replacing Finch with South African batsmen to strengthen the middle order.

On the other for Mumbai, Evin Lewis' fitness status is still not revealed but it is expected that he will play tonight. Other than that, no change is expected today.

Playing (TBC):

Punjab: KL Rahul (wk), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Manoj Tiwary, David Miller, R Ashwin (c), Andrew Tye, Barinder Sran, Ankit Rajpoot, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

Mumbai: Suryakumar Yadav, Evin Lewis, Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma, JP Duminy, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Ben Cutting, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Markande.