New Delhi: Gujarat Titans and Mumbai Indians are well aware of being one defeat away from elimination from IPL 2025 and would be eager to put their best foot forward in the Eliminator in Mullanpur on Friday.

Five-time champions Mumbai have been on a roll in the mid-part of the league matches while Gujarat were in pole position for a top-two finish till they lost their last two matches.

Still they have made it to the play-offs thrice in the last four editions and won the trophy in 2022 and wouldn’t be no pushover. Mumbai would fancy their big-match temperament to tide them through.

Equally intriguing would be the demeanour of the two captains – GT’s Shubman Gill and MI’s Hardik Pandya.

Gill would be keen to build up his leadership credentials with a title, after being chosen to lead the Indian Test team. Pandya would also want the title badly to turn the boos of last year into cheers this year.

GT lost momentum in their last two defeats in which they conceded 465 runs with new-ball operators Mohammed Siraj and Arshad Khan being taken to the cleaners while star leg-spinner Rashid Khan has also been effective in the middle overs.

No Buttler, Rickleton in crunch match

They would have to pull up their socks as they can’t expect their flowing top-order batters Sai Sudharsan and Gill included to bail them out again.

This time they won’t have their other heavy scorer Jos Buttler, who left for national duty after the league stage, which could be too big a void to fill for Kusal Mendis, the replacement player.

If MI make early inroads, it would test Shahrukh Khan and Sherfane Rutherford, who are the most reliable of performers.

Mumbai would also have to do without national duty-bound Ryan Rickelton and Will Jacks and has been replaced by Jonny Bairstow and Richard Gleeson.

With 640 runs, Suryakumar Yadav is their standout batter and GT need to dismiss him early.

The squads:

Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (captain), Sai Sudharsan, Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan, Nishant Sindhu, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Gerald Coetzee, Jayant Yadav, Arshad Khan, Karim Janat, Sherfane Rutherford, Mahipal Lomror, Washington Sundar, Manav Suthar, Gurnoor Brar, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, Kulwant Khejroliya, Mohammed Siraj, Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Mendis, Jos Buttler.

Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (captain), Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Bevon Jacobs, Robin Minz, Krishnan Shrijith, Naman Dhir, Raj Bawa, Mitchell Santner, Jasprit Bumrah, Arjun Tendulkar, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley, Karn Sharma, Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, Satyanarayana Raju, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Raghu Sharma, Jonny Bairstow, Richard Gleeson, Charith Asalanka.Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (captain), Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Bevon Jacobs, Robin Minz, Krishnan Shrijith, Naman Dhir, Raj Bawa, Mitchell Santner, Jasprit Bumrah, Arjun Tendulkar, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley, Karn Sharma, Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, Satyanarayana Raju, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Raghu Sharma, Jonny Bairstow, Richard Gleeson, Charith Asalanka.