Big picture: A mouth-watering knockout
After 72 matches and two gruelling months of play-travel-play, with a break in between, only three teams are left standing in IPL 2025: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Mumbai Indians (MI). While RCB have already qualified for the final, MI will meet PBKS in another crunch game on Sunday to identify the other finalists.
Five-time champions vs a team that is in quest for its first title. Hardik Pandya vs Shreyas Iyer. Jasprit Bumrah vs Arshdeep Singh. Suryakumar Yadav vs Josh Inglis. Trent Boult vs Kyle Jamieson. It promises to be a mouth-watering contest.
The two teams have had contrasting paths to Qualifier 2. Around mid-April, MI were second from bottom, with just a solitary win in five games. But they went on to do MI things to storm into the playoffs and knock out Gujarat Titans (GT) on Friday. As for PBKS, they were the form team in the league phase, topping the points table before they suffered a rude jolt in Qualifier 1 against RCB.
The reward for finishing in the top two is another crack at the final. PBKS had earned that reward after beating MI in Jaipur earlier this week. Another win against MI on Sunday will guarantee a first-time IPL champion.
It's quite unusual for an IPL team to have four uncapped Indian batters in their top seven, but Ricky Ponting and Iyer have unlocked their potential, transforming PBKS into an explosive batting line-up that has posted 200 in seven of their 15 innings. While their style of play fell flat on a New Chandigarh surface that offered substantial seam movement and variable bounce, it could work on the truer pitches in Ahmedabad.
In contrast, MI's batting revolves around battle-hardened internationals, with just one uncapped player in their top seven. After Ryan Rickelton's departure, Jonny Bairstow seamlessly slotted into the opening slot on his franchise debut, his salvo setting the base for a 200-plus total on Friday. Suryakumar and Hardik have been reeling off the big hits in the middle order, but it is Bumrah who continues to be their potent point of difference, turning 20-over innings into 16.
In the Eliminator, MI were without Deepak Chahar (hamstring niggle) and were even hindered by dew, but nothing could stop Bumrah from yorking Washington Sundar with perhaps the ball of the tournament. Can PBKS find a way to stop him on Sunday?
Tom Moody and Varun Aaron look ahead to Qualifier 2 on Sunday
Form guide
Punjab Kings LWLWW (last five matches, most recent first)
Mumbai Indians WLWLW
In the spotlight: Shreyas Iyer and Hardik Pandya
In Qualifier 1, Shreyas Iyer tried to slog-pull a Josh Hazlewood delivery that was neither short nor full, and ended up nicking it behind. His dismissal precipitated PBKS' slide in New Chandigarh, where he has managed only 27 runs in five innings this season. A potentially flatter pitch in Ahmedabad could suit his - and PBKS' - attacking approach. Iyer has hit 31 sixes in 302 balls this season. Only Suryakumar (35), Mitchell Marsh (37) and Nicholas Pooran (40) have struck more.
When he was captaining GT, Hardik Pandya was more of an anchor than a hitter, but this season as MI's captain, he has been less of an anchor and more of a hitter, giving their innings the finishing kick. Between overs 17 and 20, he has clattered 109 off 53 balls at a strike rate of 205.66, the second highest among 16 batters who have faced at least 50 balls in this phase. Only Heinrich Klaasen is ahead of Hardik with a strike rate of 237.03.
Both PBKS and MI have hitting depth, which has perhaps allowed Iyer and Hardik to bat with greater freedom this IPL.
Team news and likely XIIs: Chahal set to return
Yuzvendra Chahal, who missed PBKS' last three games, including Qualifier 1, with a wrist injury, bowled on the eve of Qualifier 2 and looks set to return and strengthen the attack. If PBKS bat first, Chahal might come in as Impact Player in the second innings when they bowl.
Punjab Kings (probable): 1 Prabhsimran Singh, 2 Priyansh Arya, 3 Josh Inglis (wk), 4 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 5 Nehal Wadhera, 6 Shashank Singh, 7 Marcus Stoinis, 8 Azmatullah Omarzai, 9 Harpreet Brar/Vyshak Vijaykumar, 10 Kyle Jamieson, 11 Arshdeep Singh, 12 Yuzvendra Chahal
Chahar and Richard Gleeson are nursing hamstring issues, and it remains to be seen if they are fit for Qualifier 2. While Chahar missed the Eliminator, Gleeson left the field midway through the final over on Friday. He will have a short turnaround before Qualifier 2 on Sunday. If he doesn't recover in time, his England compatriot Reece Topley is likely to replace him.
Mumbai Indians (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt), 6 Naman Dhir, 7 Mitchell Santner, 8 Raj Bawa, 9 Richard Gleeson/Reece Topley, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Trent Boult, 12 Ashwani Kumar
The big question
Pitch and conditions
Sunday's match will most likely be played on the red-soil pitch that hosted Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR). Six of the seven games in Ahmedabad have been won by teams batting first this season. There were spells of mild drizzle during PBKS' training session on the eve of Qualifier 2.
Key stats
Chahal has the wood over both Bairstow and Suryakumar in the IPL. The legspinner has dismissed Bairstow four times in six IPL innings while keeping him to 29 off 35 balls. Chahal has also limited Suryakumar to 83 off 71 balls while dismissing him three times in the IPL.
Bumrah has dominated Marcus Stoinis in the IPL. The match-up reads: 28 runs, 36 balls, three wickets.
Rohit Sharma has made four 50-plus scores in an IPL season for the first time since 2016.
Iyer is one away from 50 wins as IPL captain.
