3 player battles to watch out for in MI vs SRH, Match 33 of IPL 2025 ft. Hardik Pandya

Mumbai Indians (MI) will play their second home game of IPL 2025 when they face SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Thursday, April 17. The contest will be played at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Mumbai finally redeemed themselves in the tournament with a comeback victory in their recently concluded game. After losing two back-to-back games, interestingly by a common margin of 12 runs, MI bounced back to grab their second win of the season by beating Delhi Capitals (DC) by 12 runs.

SRH started their campaign on a high note and beat the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in their first game. But what followed next was disappointing, as they lost four games in a row before bouncing back impressively to add two more points to their total.

With both teams having bagged comeback wins in their respective previous matches, it’ll be interesting to see which side takes the dominant hand in this contest. On that note, here’s a look at the three player battles to watch out for:

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#3 Eshan Malinga vs Tilak Varma

Eshan Malinga emerged as a surprise element in SRH’s lineup in their previous game, where they faced the Punjab Kings (PBKS) at their home ground in Hyderabad. Though he conceded runs in plenty, like every other bowler in the high-scoring encounter, he also picked wickets at crucial intervals while maintaining his line and lengths.

Tilak Varma is in red-hot form with the bat, scoring runs for his side consistently and being one of the most reliable batters on the team. This will be the first time that Malinga and Varma face each other, and if the former manages to read the latter’s game, it’ll be an interesting matchup to follow.

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#2 Jasprit Bumrah vs Travis Head

Two of the finest players in the IPL - Jasprit Bumrah and Travis Head - will go head to head when MI host SRH. Speaking of their T20 stats, the Hyderabad batter has scored 44 runs against the MI pacer in 31 deliveries, including seven fours, and has fallen prey to him once.

Their statistics in men’s internationals are even better, and that’s what makes this battle the most interesting one. Bumrah has dismissed the Aussie batter a whopping eight times in 266 deliveries in 22 innings, with the Adelaide-born scoring 197 runs in these games.

A dominant powerplay pacer and an in-form powerplay batter will face off in this clash, and this battle promises to be a mouthwatering one.

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#1 Hardik Pandya vs Heinrich Klaasen

The MI skipper has a good history of bowling against Heinrich Klaasen in T20s. Pandya has done a good job as a skipper, though his form as a player is debatable. Klaasen, meanwhile, has done a decent job with the bat so far.

In 48 balls across nine innings that Klaasen has faced off Pandya, the SRH batter has scored 70 runs, hitting six fours and four maximums. Klaasen has batted at a strike rate of 145.83, and Pandya has dismissed him twice in these outings, hence this will be a worthy battle.