The term ‘Eliminator’ has a certain doomsday vibe about it. It’s a do-or-die tug of war in which if you fail to pull the result in your favour, your two-month-long toil will be terminated mercilessly.
So that’s the kind of desperation that would be expected from Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians as they pad up for the IPL 2025 Eliminator contest in Mullanpur on Friday. The winner will go on to play Qualifier II, the loser will be left sulking.
Many think Mumbai are the favourites going into the match. They have the stronger team on paper and the five-time champions perhaps have a better big-match psyche than the Titans.
Some also believe that the Titans have lost much of their momentum after suffering heavy defeats in their last two league matches. But then, Mumbai too lost their last league game, a seven-wicket thrashing at the hands of Punjab Kings. So the momentum bit is debatable.
Diving deeper into the make-up of the teams going into Friday’s duel, what really gives Mumbai an edge is their bowling attack. The Titans seemed to have messed up their bowling rhythm somewhat as they conceded totals of 235 and 230 in their last two games. Compared to that, the Mumbai attack seems to be in a far better shape.
Mumbai’s bowling arsenal is heavily pace-dependent, but there’s no drawback in that. In Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult, they have two of the finest pacers in contemporary cricket and both have been in good form. Boult, in fact, is more dangerous than Bumrah, because of his wicket-taking abilities. The left-arm speedster from New Zealand has pocketed 19 wickets so far this season without conceding too many runs (economy 8.51).
Not that Bumrah is far behind, with the Indian possessing a magical economy rate of 6.33 and an impressive aggregate of 17 wickets. Captain Hardik Pandya (13 wickets) and Deepak Chahar (11 wickets) too have been on the ball.
The Titans, on the other hand, have struggled with some of their key bowlers going off track. Renowned spinner Rashid Khan has been uncharacteristically ineffective, while Mohammed Siraj’s form has taken a dip. It’s only Prasidh Krishna (23 wickets) who has been consistent and left-arm spinner R. Sai Kishore (17 wickets) who has bowled wisely.
On the batting front, both teams need to rearrange their order. Mumbai will be missing opener Ryan Rickelton and all-rounder Will Jacks. They are likely to play new recruit Jonny Bairstow as Rohit Sharma’s opening partner.
The Titans have a bigger hole to fill after the departure of Jos Buttler. If captain Shubman Gill and B. Sai Sudharsan fail to fire at the top, the Titans batting unit will face their toughest test of the season.
