No side has won the IPL title after finishing fourth on the points table.
Will Mumbai be able to break that jinx?
Gujarat Titans take on Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2025 Eliminator at Mullanpur, Chandigarh, on Friday, May 30, 2025.
Since there will be no second chances, Mumbai and Titans will leave no stone unturned in the do-or-die clash to book their spot in the Qualifier 2, scheduled for June 1.
Both teams have taken contrasting paths to reach the IPL 2025 playoffs. While Mumbai pulled off a stunning fightback after a disastrous start, Titans began the season in rousing fashion, winning five consecutive games before faltering at the fag end of the season.
Titans, who were granted an entry into the glitzy league in 2022, have already featured in two finals, winning the title in 2022 and finishing runners-up the next year.
MI, on the other hand, are one of the most successful sides in IPL history, having won the title five times to be tied with Chennai Super Kings.
Against Titans, the Hardik Pandya-led side will start as favourites, given their performances in must-win games over the years.
However, Titans hold a slight edge over Mumbai in head-to-head contests in the IPL so far, winning three out of five games played between them.
Heading into the winner-take-it-all rumble, both teams will miss the service of a number of top-notch overseas players due to international commitments.
Jos Buttler and Kagiso Rabada's absence will leave a big void in the Titans' line-up, while Mumbai will have to manage without wicketkeeper-batter Ryan Rickelton and all-rounder Will Jacks.
Buttler has had a stupendous season, racking up 538 runs in 13 innings. His replacement Kushal Mendis, who is yet to make his IPL debut, will have big boots to fill if he is drafted into the squad for the Eliminator.
Moreover, Buttler's absence will add extra pressure on openers Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill, who are first and second in the race to the Orange Cap with 679 and 649 runs respectively.
Rickelton's departure means Rohit Sharma will have to find a new opening partner. The South African has been their second leading run-getter (388) behind Suryakumar Yadav, who has aggregated 640 runs in 14 innings to be third in the batting charts.
Mumbai were quick to snap up Jonny Bairstow as Rickelton's replacement, and the move makes sense given the Englishman's reputation of being a game-changer with a knack for big knocks in pressure games.
However, the void left by Jacks, an aggressive batter down the order and a handy off-spinner, will be difficult to fill.
With Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult leading the bowling attack, Mumbai have arguably the most potent new-ball partnership in the league.
Their numbers are quite something. Among pacers, the duo has the best bowling average (21.4) as well as best bowling strike (14.8), and the best economy rate (8.6).
Boult has snared eight wickets in the Powerplay at an economy of 8.3 while Bumrah has been deadly at the end, accounting for 10 wickets at an economy of 6.8.
Titans' chances will depend on how well they handle those searing spells of pace bowling from two masters of the art.
GT's biggest worry is Rashid Khan's indifferent form. One of the most successful bowlers in IPL history, he's having his worst season, managing just 9 wickets in 14 games.
Both Mumbai and Titans were on course to secure a top-top spot before the league was suspended following heightened military tension between India and Pakistan.
When the league resumed, they lost their momentum and let go of golden chances to secure a place in the Qualifier 1 with a string of poor results in the final league fixtures. Although they managed to scrape into the playoffs, they were left rueing those missed chances.
No side has won the IPL title after finishing fourth on the points table. Will Mumbai be able to break that jinx?
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