A heated Eliminator clash ensued at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur on Friday. A showdown that tested the might and resilience of all players from the Gujarat Titans and the Mumbai Indians. The tension went through the roof as for both teams, it was a mere matter of survival for the next phase of the tournament. After encountering countless instances of ebbs and flows, MI, under the leadership of Hardik Pandya, managed to secure a victory by 20 runs against the Gujarat Titans. 

See also: Top 3 reasons why Gujarat Titans Lost to Mumbai Indians in IPL 2025 Eliminator

The five-time champions found themselves in a hell of a fight to secure their spot in Qualifier 2 against the Punjab Kings. Despite mounting a gigantic score of 228, MI were not out of the woods. GT tried to counterattack and on the back of a fighting 80 (490 from Sai Sudharsan, GT found themselves comfortably placed at 151-2 after 13. But Gleeson and Bumrah's tight bowling in the backend choked the life out of GT as they fell agonizingly short of their desired target by a margin of 20 runs.

As fate would have it, the win turned out to be a smooth afair for MI as they were successfully able to close out the game without facing major hiccups towards the end. But one has to admit, the game reached a point where the pendulum could have shifted in any which way. The partnership between Sundar and Sudharsan got the entire MI camp sweating, including their head coach, Mahela Jayawardene, who was frequently seen passing on instructions to the entire team, including Jasprit Bumrah at the boundary line.

Immediately after Jayawardene tried to intervene, Bumrah was spotted requesting the coach to relax and take it easy, appearing to disregard any advice he had to offer. The animated interaction between the duo sparked the imagination of Jatin Sapru, who was on air for the Hindi broadcast. He had to say the following:

"Bumrah is basically saying, 'Relax, I know my job well. I am here. You stay calm and just give me a chance."

Bumrah calms Mahela down:

pic.twitter.com/qzZegI5iII

— Nihari Korma (@NihariVsKorma) May 31, 2025

Rohit's whirlwind 81 (50) miraculously saved the day for MI as they live to fight another day. Their next big challenge awaits them in Ahmedabad, where they will take on a bruised PBKS in the Qualifier 2 match on June 1.