3 player battles to watch out for in MI vs GT, Match 57 of IPL 2023

Match 57 of the IPL 2023 season will see the Mumbai Indians (MI) take on the table-toppers Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday. This is a crucial game for Mumbai, as a win would take them a step closer to sealing their spot in the IPL 2023 playoffs.

Gujarat, on the other hand, have all but qualified for the playoffs, and a win will arguably cement their top-two finish and a place in Qualifier 1. MI's batting line-up made an absolute mockery of their run chase against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their previous game.

However, they struggled badly against the Titans when the two teams last met in Ahmedabad. This makes certain match-ups in the game pretty interesting and potentially crucial to determining who wins the game.

On that note, let's take a look at three such match-ups:

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#3 David Miller vs Piyush Chawla

Mumbai Indians leg-spinner Piyush Chawla had an off-day in the previous game against RCB, but that doesn't take anything away from the fact that he has been their best bowler this season. His wrist spin naturally makes him a match-up against GT star David Miller.

Miller is considered as one of the most consistent middle-order batters going around and Mumbai will need Chawla to control the southpaw.

Chawla has conceded just 36 runs in 40 balls that he has bowled to Miller in T20 cricket and has dismissed him twice. This could make captain Rohit Sharma hold the leg-spinner back for when Miller comes to the crease.

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#2 Ishan Kishan vs Mohammed Shami

Ishan Kishan coming into form is one of the biggest positive signs for the Mumbai Indians. His blazing cameo of 42 against RCB was really needed for the hosts to ensure they got a flying start to their chase. However, he didn't have a great outing against GT in Ahmedabad, scoring just 13 runs in 21 balls.

The southpaw was particularly finding it difficult to play out the lethal swing and seam movement that GT pacer Mohammed Shami was generating. This makes the matchup between them one to watch out for.

While Shami is yet to dismiss Ishan, he has conceded just 42 runs off 42 balls that he has bowled to the left-hander in T20 cricket. It will be interesting to see if Ishan Kishan once again goes down the route of counter-attacking or whether Shami makes it difficult for him with the new ball.

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#1 Suryakumar Yadav vs Rashid Khan

Suryakumar Yadav reached his highest IPL score against RCB in the last game, as his 83 off just 35 balls helped the hosts dominate the chase of 200. GT's star spinner Rashid Khan had a good outing against MI in the reverse fixture, but there was a certain phase where 'SKY' dominated him.

Yadav has scored 50 runs in 37 balls against Rashid and is yet to be dismissed in T20s. If Mumbai are to avoid the threat from the GT spinner, they will bank on SKY to keep him at bay. But Rashid Khan is likely to have quite a few tricks up his sleeve, and it will be worth finding out who wins this particular player battle.