3 player battles to watch out for in MI vs DC, Match 63 of IPL 2025 ft. KL Rahul

The Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Delhi Capitals (DC) will face off in a crucial match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, potentially determining which team secures the last available playoff spot. MI and DC are the only teams still in playoff contention, so they’ll be eager for a win.

The match is scheduled to take place at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday, May 21. MI will have the home advantage and will be favored to win, especially considering the Capitals' recent performance (a 10-wicket loss to the Gujarat Titans).

The outcome of this upcoming match will clarify the qualifiers' scenario. If MI win, they’ll directly secure the fourth spot, while DC’s victory would keep them in contention, needing to win their last match and hoping for MI to lose their 14th match to qualify. If DC lose to MI, they’ll be eliminated from the tournament, even with a game remaining.

With a significant match on the horizon, here are three player battles to watch for in MI vs DC:

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#3 Tristan Stubbs vs Jasprit Bumrah

Tristan Stubbs has been in good form lately and has played the anchor role for DC. In 11 innings across 12 matches, Stubbs has accumulated 280 runs and remained unbeaten on six occasions, maintaining a strike rate of 154.69 and an average of 56 without scoring a fifty.

His performance in the death overs has been outstanding, and he’ll be facing one of the best death bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah. The MI pacer and the DC batter have faced each other four times previously, with Stubbs scoring nine runs off 14 deliveries.

If Bumrah dismisses Stubbs, it will disrupt DC’s momentum and shift the game in MI’s favor.

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#2 Suryakumar Yadav vs Kuldeep Yadav

MI’s Suryakumar Yadav is the leading run-scorer for the team with 510 runs in 12 matches. He’s been a consistent performer throughout the tournament and ranks as the fourth-leading run-scorer this season.

Kuldeep Yadav, on the other hand, has the second-most wickets for the Capitals this season, with a total of 12. While he hasn’t performed at his peak, he will aim to give it his all, as the Axar Patel-led team looks to secure a playoff spot.

In their previous encounters, Kuldeep has dismissed Suryakumar Yadav once in four innings, conceding 39 runs in 27 deliveries.

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#1 KL Rahul vs Trent Boult

KL Rahul is in excellent form, scoring runs in every position he’s batted this season. He began the tournament as a middle-order batter, taking the No. 4 spot in the lineup, but moved to the top order as an opener after Jake Fraser-McGurk’s exit.

In his first game of the year as an opener, Rahul scored an unbeaten century (112*) in the previous match against the Gujarat Titans (GT). Still, his team failed to defend the 199-run total, as Shubman Gill and company won the contest.

This time, Rahul will face MI’s lethal new-ball bowler Trent Boult, the leading wicket-taker for the five-time champions with 18 wickets. The wicketkeeper-batter has faced the Kiwi pacer 14 times in T20s, scoring 130 runs off 88 deliveries against him.

Conversely, the New Zealander has dismissed the Indian batter twice in these encounters, making it intriguing to see who will dominate the battle this time around.