Eighth-placed Rajasthan Royals need wins in their remaining four matches to have a slim chance at entering the playoffs stage in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Their first stop in the quest to qualify for the top four comes at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium against the most in-form team of the season, Mumbai Indians, on Thursday.
Rajasthan’s season turned sour when they failed to chase down totals in three consecutive games against the Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Delhi Capitals (losing in the super over), despite having had the advantage at some point in all encounters.
However, in their last encounter against the Gujarat Titans, the 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi stole the show by scoring the fastest century by an Indian batter in the tournament. He, alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal, stitched a 166-run stand as they rushed to the target of 210 and completed the chase in 15.5 overs, the fastest-ever 200+ run chase in tournament history.
Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, continued their dream run as they climbed from the bottom of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 table, having won only one game in their opening five outings, to now comfortably place second, having registered five wins in a row.
The last time the Mumbai Indians won five matches in a row was in 2020, when they went on to win the title.
When: RR vs MI will be played on Thursday. The toss is scheduled for 7:00 PM IST, while the game will begin at 7:30 PM IST.
Where: RR vs MI will be played at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Bengaluru.
Where to watch: The RR vs MI match will be broadcast on the Star Sports Network and live-streamed on JioCinema (formerly JioHotstar).
Squads:
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (capt & wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shubham Dubey, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kunal Singh Rathore, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya, Kwena Maphaka, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Ashok Sharma, and Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (capt), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Robin Minz, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Shrijith Krishnan (wk), Bevon Jacobs, Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Will Jacks, Mitchell Santner, Raj Angad Bawa, Vignesh Puthur, Corbin Bosch, Trent Boult, Karn Sharma, Deepak Chahar, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley, VS Penmetsa, Arjun Tendulkar, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Jasprit Bumrah.
–IANS
