MI vs GT, 56th Match at Mumbai, IPL, May 06 2025 - Live Cricket Score

Arshad from over the wicket. Watch out for the in-swinger to the RHBs

Jacks in early. Good opportunity for him to show off his wares. He did score a century against this opposition last year, although that was in RCB colours

7:27pm Plenty of MI flags waving in the stands and there is, unsurprisingly, a sea of blue. Rohit and Rickelton make their way out to raucous cheers, and that will only be amped up if they get going early in the piece. The last time these sides played, Siraj was breathing fire with the new ball. Does he have something similar up his sleeve tonight? Over the wicket to Rickelton. Slip in place, let's play!

Shubh: "Is MI management not playing Santner intentionally or is he injured? It will be shocking if they leaving him out to play Bosch as Bosch is simlar to Pandya in bowling and Santner is brilliant with the ball. " -- He has been nursing and injury and may not have regained full fitness yet, with Bosch not doing much wrong since coming in to the team as well.

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Karan: "What are the stakes of this match? What if MI lose this, can they still finish top-2?" -- They still could, but they will need a few other results to go their way.

Pratik: "Isn't GT going bit too bowling heavy against MI? Looking that the team list, GT have 5 specialized bowlers and two bowling allrounders. Considering they will swap one of specialized bowlers for batters, still weak batting line up if 2 of top 3 fails against Bolt and Bumrah" -- They are sticking to the principle of not fixing something that is not broke. This team balance has largely worked for them so far, and they are banking on it to work again tonight.

7:10pm The big news, obviously, is that Rabada is not playing. GT, though, might use a fourth overseas player tonight, with Rutherford expected to be a part of their run-chase. Shanaka is another option, in case they need more death-overs firepower. Washington could also be in the mix, but given Gill explicitly mentioned he had been replaced by Arshad, the off-spinning all-rounder might be sitting this one out. No surprises in the MI camp. Karn Sharma will most likely be their Impact Player, unless they feel the pitch demands another pacer (although that seems very unlikely given their current balance).

Vishal Pawar: "How's the weather? Although I live in South Mumbai, it's for the other folks!" -- We look good for an on-time start.

Gujarat Titans bowling-first XI: Shubman Gill (capt), Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Sai Kishore, Rashid Khan, Arshad Khan, Gerald Coetzee, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

GT bench: Sherfane Rutherford, Washington Sundar, Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror, Dasun Shanaka

Mumbai Indians batting-first XI: Ryan Rickelton (wk), Rohit Sharma, Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (capt), Naman Dhir, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah

MI bench: Karn Sharma, Reece Topley, Robin Minz, Raj Bawa, Ashwani Kumar

7pm It's time for the toss. All smiles between Gill and Hardik, who were once teammates at the Gujarat Titans and won the IPL in their first season together. Hardik, being the home captain, gives the coin a twirl. Gill calls tails and tails never fails. Gujarat Titans will bowl first. He says the wicket will not change much and that it is always better to have a score in front of you and chase. Reckons it is all about turning up on the day and delivering the best possible performance as a team, and not go to deep into what has happened in the past. One change for the Titans - Arshad comes in for Washington. Rabada is back, but Gill says that he probably needs a couple more practice sessions to be ready and available to play.

Hardik says he would have preferred bowling first but he does not mind setting a total. There is a nice breeze around, and he reckons it will be fine to bowl later in the evening too. Adds that anyone can come in and change the game in the IPL, and that they should not get too drawn into the form of GT's top three. Maintain discipline, think about what they can control and execute, while being humble and being focused is the mantra for them. Same team for MI.

6:55pm As we move closer to the toss, this preview by Vishal, charting out the key match-ups, the players to look for and all the other interesting stats from this contest, is your place to be.

Hefaz: "It will be Rashid Khan's day, tonight! Bookmark it!" -- Why bookmark it when it can instead be published here!

Pitch Report: The square boundaries are slightly skewed - 66m to one side, 61m to the other, with a 74m hit straight down the ground when bowling from the North End. There has been a bit of rain around but today, the sun has been beating down and it is humid. This pitch was used for the games against CSK and RCB, both of which had lots of runs. Matthew Hayden reckons it is a 200-plus pitch again, with both captains possibly wanting to chase if they win the toss.

6:45pm For all those of you waiting for Rabada to be back in action, Vishal comes bearing some bad news: Oh hello! Rabada may not be playing after all because he has not marked his run up. After Prasidh, Siraj and Coetzee mark theirs, it's Arshad Khan who gets the tape and spray paint to mark his run up on both sides. Remember, Arshad played for MI in 2023, so he is familiar with this ground and his left-arm variation could come handy.

Pushker: "Except for DC, none of MI wins have come against form sides of the tournament..I am not yet convinced they will finish in top 4.." -- Well, they were at the top of the table until a few days ago and now have only two teams above them, so not quite sure about that. A bit like Liverpool in the Premier League season, who rival fans have said did not play anyone above them but that was because...they never dropped down from their perch.

Sandy: ""Two of the best teams of the tournament, this will be a cracker of a game, lets see who emerges as the winner tonight.""

6:35pm Here's a snippet from Vishal, who has settled in nicely in the press box: It's unusually humid at the Wankhede. The stadium is right next to the Arabian Sea anyway, and with a lot of clouds roving over Gujarat and parts of Maharashtra, there might be some thunderstorms and a bit of rain today and tomorrow in Mumbai. The benefit of that is there is some breeze and it's not unbearably hot today. The players have started to emerge from the dressing rooms, and unlike yesterday, when Rabada mainly had a feel of the nets for not more than half an hour, he is among the first to come down the stairs from the GT dressing room. He's now having a bowl on one of the side pitches along with Rashid Khan, while Nehra has a long chat with Gerald Coetzee at the main pitch. No signs of Ishant Sharma yet, so looks like a straight swap for Rabada, since GT have been playing three overseas in recent games.

6:30pm Sound? Check. Visuals? Working. Other pending assignments? Completed. Stakes? Outlined. Potential ramifications? Explained. Popcorn? Ready.

It's time. Time for the main event. 40 overs of cricket. Four hours of action. Two star-studded squads, but only one chance to top the table tonight, with the other forced into a nervous glance over their shoulder, even if there is no immediate danger of being tripped up.

In the blue (and gold) corner, the Mumbai Indians. Five-time champions. Doing their usual, boring thing. Starting off slow, being on the ropes in the early rounds, fighting for survival, and then...voila! Morphing into an all-conquering machine, knowing exactly when to keep their distance and jab, and when to land their haymakers and knockout blows. Carrying an aura that in this form, even getting close to them, let alone beating them, feels an achievement.

In the other corner, the Gujarat Titans. Unheralded at the start and flying under the radar, but very much front and centre now in the conversations that matter. Technically adept, tactically astute, a tireless work ethic, the shrewdness to mask perceived weaknesses, and the supreme confidence of having not lost to this opponent thrice in a row.

But tonight, they face a different version of the foe they have specialized in outlasting. A version that has reeled off six successive wins, is scheming to go 16 rounds themselves, and after running out of steam in their last bout, will have a score to settle.

This has the makings of a humdinger, so hop on to ESPNcricinfo's live coverage!