Mumbai Indians were knocked out off the play-off race after the 36 run loss to the Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday -- their eighth loss in a row.
A sixth win in nine games takes IPL debutants LSG closer to a play-off berth, while the task gets tougher for Punjab with just four wins from nine games.
Daredevils can be the banana peel and Mumbai Indians will be wary after Chennai Super Kings slipped in their penultimate game. The last time the two teams faced off, the Daredevils won by seven wickets in a last-over thriller.
Gautam Gambhir is a politician by choice but a cricketer at heart whose brain never stops ticking when it comes to conceptualising, planning and execution.
Having notched three straight victories after a string of losses, Mumbai Indians are looking to defeat Rajasthan Royals and inch closer to a play-offs berth when the two sides face each other in an Indian Premier League encounter in Mumbai on Sunday.
Suryakumar took charge with MI tottering at 79 for 6 and added 72 off 41 balls with Jaydev Unadkat (13 no off 14 balls).
Brothers Krunal and Hardik Pandya excelled with the bat and ball respectively as Baroda crushed Punjab by 75 runs in a Vijay Hazare Trophy Group A match.
IMAGES: Mumbai Indians versus Kings XI Punjab, Wankhede Stadium, May 16, 2018.
Star batter Suryakumar Yadav urged one and all to show patience with an out of sorts Mumbai Indians, saying the five-time champions are currently undergoing a transition phase.
India A completed their domination in the 50-over tri-series with a five-wicket thumping of England Lions in the final at the Kennington Oval, on Monday.
Opener Mayank Agarwal continued his dream run with yet another hundred as India 'A' comfortably beat England Lions by 102 runs in the third match of the Tri-nation 'A' series, in Leicester, on Tuesday.
A win against Mumbai Indians should be enough to send Sunrisers into the final-four.
Ian Chappell's belief stems from India's incredible depth of talent and its success ratio of late.
Prasidh Krishna registered the best-ever figures by an Indian bowler on debut, while Shardul Thakur continued his recent good form with the ball to rally India to 66-run victory in the first ODI against England, in Pune, on Tuesday.
Kolkata Knight Riders snapped their six-match losing streak with a 34-run win over Mumbai Indians in a high-scoring IPL game.
According to an ICC release, Maxwell's scores of 56 and 113*, in the two T20Is that helped Australia claim the series 2-0, helped him rise two positions to 3rd in the rankings.
Adam Zampa picked up two wickets in a miserly spell of leg spin bowling as Australia edged India by four runs in an enthralling rain-shortened Twenty20 International in Brisbane on Wednesday.
'MS is obviously a world-class finisher and even he was finding it hard to hit the middle of the bat. So, I think it was right of him to try and farm the strike. He hit a six in the last over and I think that showed how difficult it was'
Hardik and Pollard added 41 runs for the fourth wicket. The younger Pandya scored 28 runs off 19 balls. The elder Pandya scored 20* off four balls while Pollard remained unbeaten on 25 runs.
'If you want to win the tournament everyone needs to do well.'
A 75-run partnership for the second wicket between stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma and Vijay Shankar put India in a strong position but their middle-order failed to capitalise and the tourists finished with 208 for six in 20 overs.
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians, in Sharjah, on Tuesday.
As the 16th edition of the glitzy Indian Premier League is set to unfold, let's take a look at the driving force of the T20 league and what's in store in this edition.
Former India wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel picked Rishabh Pant as the key player for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2021, while adding that the young left-hander is capable of winning matches on his own and can be better than former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Dube smashed an unbeaten 79 off 60 balls that included a half a dozen of sixes and three boundaries which took India's score to 327 for 6 in 47 overs.
Kings XI Punjab will once again be facing a 'do-or-die' situation during their penultimate round encounter against table toppers Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, in Mumbai, on Thursday.
Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore will fight for survival when they lock horns in the Indian Premier League in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
India will surely fancy their chances of an encore, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Young players, including Hardik Pandya, need to work harder
Stoinis put in an all-round performance as his contributions with the bat hurt India in the middle overs.
Australian team's tempered on-field approach is a paradigm shift from earlier times but it's the quality of cricket which will decide the fate of the series, said India's head coach Ravi Shastri.
If MI have their problems to sort out, having lost at the death in all three games so far, RCB too have their own shortcomings to address with only one win in three games under their belt.
India's ODI squad against Australia announced; squads for New Zealand tour declared
A net bowler with the Indian team right now, uncapped Karnataka all-rounder Krishnappa Gowtham is still trying to get a grip on his emotions after fetching a mind-boggling Rs 9.25 crore deal with Chennai Super Kings which left his parents and wife overwhelmed by tears of joy.
Images from the third One-Day International between India and England, in Pune, on Sunday.
Images from Tuesday's IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals, in Abu Dhabi.
One wondered whether Rahul had gone to sleep for a few overs as the situation came down to 12 from the final over.
Virat Kohli's golden run with the bat in IPL sees him lead the MVP rankings in the ongoing IPL, with RCB team mate AB de Villiers a distant second. Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji anaylse the players' performance in Rediff.com's Most Valuable Players ratings.
The decision now rests with Kishan on whether he wants to heed the advice of one of India's greatest cricketers and work towards resurrecting his career or just be content playing the IPL.
Jasprit Bumrah's death-overs mastery in Sunday's Indian Premier League final has convinced batting great Sachin Tendulkar that the 25-year-old with an unorthodox action is currently the best bowler in world cricket.
