Blow for MI as ex-India star claims Ahmedabad pitch will favor Punjab Kings in Qualifier 2

Former Indian cricketer Varun Aaron opened up about the Ahmedabad pitch ahead of the Qualifier 2 between the Punjab Kings and the Mumbai Indians. Aaron believed that Ahmedabad’s surface would suit Punjab’s batters.

Punjab Kings fell short in the first Qualifier against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), and now they’ll get another chance to seal their place in the IPL 2025 final.

Read also: Not Shubman Gill! Monty Panesar claims Karun Nair holds key to India’s success on England tour

SHORTS

View More

Your daily dose of cricket!

Loading...

Varun Aaron on Ahmedabad's surface

Varun Aaron thinks that Ahmedabad’s pitch will suit Punjab’s batter more than Mumbai’s batter because PBKS rely most on their openers compared to MI. Punjab’s head coach, Ricky Ponting, will be helping his young batters to settle down in the high-pressure game.

"I think the Ahmedabad surface, first of all, is going to suit Punjab. It'll suit both teams, but Punjab more as such, because they rely heavily on both the openers, I think it's good that they qualified in the top two. They've got that one game out. At least their young Indian contingent have seen a high-pressure, knockout kind of a game," Aaron Told on ESPNcricinfo.

Aaron also believed that PBKS' young side saw a high-pressure game, and now their nerves will be settled in the second match. They got the advantage to finish the league stage in the top 2 positions. The PBKS skipper also stated that they lost the battle but not the war after the loss in Qualifier 1.

Watch the video here:

🗣️ 'The Ahmedabad surface will suit Punjab' @VarunAaron | #TimeOut pic.twitter.com/01BvT4R2yS

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) June 1, 2025

Tom Moody’s remark on the Punjab Kings

According to Tom Moody, the key for Punjab Kings in the Qualifier 2 is how quickly they forget the last loss and bounce back. The batting surface in Qualifier 2 will give full confidence and faith tothe PBKS camp.

"It's continuing to surround them full of confidence and faith. And if they do that on a good batting surface, there's no doubt they'll be competitive. But let's face it, Mumbai are going to be coming in red-hot after a good performance up in Chandigarh. And have sort of, in a way, washed away all the negative aspects of their season,” Moody stated.

Mumbai are also coming in red-hot form, and they are looking solid in all aspects of the game. Mumbai’s experience in the knock-out games will give them an edge over Punjab.

Punjab King’s young brigade

Punjab Kings are the only side in this season whose four uncapped players scored more than 280 runs. Prabhsimran Singh scored 567 runs in 16 matches, and he is the key for Punjab in the top order.

Priyansh Arya, Nehal Wadhera, and Shashank Singh also contributed with their bat, whenever their side needed most in this season. The core Indian group of PBKS is their strength in IPL 2025.