IPL 2025: Hardik Pandya-led MI set to take on LSG after two defeats in away games

MI’s Ashwani Kumar (centre) celebrates with his captain Hardik Pandya (right) and teammate Suryakumar Yadav after taking a catch to dismiss KKR’s Quinton de Kock in Mumbai on Monday. PIC/AFP

Having lost both their away games, Mumbai Indians will aim to make amends when they take on Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium on Friday night. MI are historically known for slow starts and waking up when things get desperate. Of course, these are early days in the IPL season, and things have not reached the desperation point. Yet, the quicker the five-time champions get into the rhythm, the better it will be for them in their bid to add another title to their impressive collection. MI have come to Lucknow after subduing Kolkata Knight Riders in Mumbai on Monday.

Wankhede boost

That comprehensive win has set them on the right track, with a few young performers, especially little-known bowlers, coming to the fore. Already, wrist spinner Vignesh Puttur and left-arm pacer Ashwani Kumar have hogged the limelight with their impressive debuts in the tournament. Not having played much cricket outside their states, they did come as a surprise to the opposition, but there is no denying that one cannot succeed without having immense potential.

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The focus will be on Ashwani, who had become the first Indian to collect four wickets on IPL debut, with 4-24 against KKR. Before that, in the opening game, it was 23-year-old Puthur who became the cynosure of eyes by claiming three wickets against Chennai Super Kings. It will be interesting to see how these upcoming bowlers perform against in-form batters Nicholas Pooran, Mitch Marsh, David Miller and even Rishabh Pant, who will be desperate to end his poor run. LSG's performance has been a mixed bag, having lost their only home game against Punjab Kings on Tuesday after taken down the high-flying SRH in Hyderabad last week.

The defeat to Punjab was not as rankling, but what has shaken the team management is the way the team were overwhelmed by the Shreyas Iyer-led side and the continued flop show with the bat by their skipper Pant. LSG mentor Zaheer Khan took out his frustration on the curator for not pandering to the demands of the home team to prepare a pitch to their liking. But the LSG management must realise that when up against an experienced team like MI, the pitch will not matter much.

MI batting coach Kieron Pollard also felt that adapting to the conditions was more important than worrying about the pitch. At the pre-match media interaction, he said, "It will be the superior collective performance on the day that will bring the desired result. It's the team that adapts well to the conditions that emerges on top. We are all geared up to play on whatever [pitch] is on offer."

On the eve of the match, LSG got a boost when the injured pace bowler Akash Deep joined the squad. It remains to be seen if the management will draft him into the XI immediately, but Akash Deep told the media, "I am fit and ready to go. I am confident of hitting top form after my recent rehab at the Centre of Excellence in Bangalore."

Tough game

Interestingly, head-to-head LSG are way ahead of MI, having won five of the six matches between the two ever since the Lucknow franchise joined the IPL in 2022, their only defeat coming in the 2023 Eliminator in Bangalore. However, with both teams currently placed in the middle of the points table with a solitary win apiece in three games, the contest will boil down to who exploits the conditions better.