Have the Mumbai Indians (MI) built a decent team for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025? They already had the best retention combination. Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Tilak Varma, and, of course, the world’s best bowler, in Jasprit Bumrah, were already with the team. Now, they needed to stack up the bowling unit. Mumbai Indians sat out during the entire two sets of Marquee List but found their old star back in Trent Boult. But they needed to bring quality spin, wicket-keeping options, and players to back Bumrah. Deepak Chahar and Mitchell Santner were their two big signings on Day 2.
The five-time champions finished with a wooden spoon last season. They had a horrible year and haven’t qualified for an IPL Final since 2020. Hardik Pandya has a huge task at his hands come the IPL 2025, starting from March 15, 2025. On that note, let us hop into the best playing XI for MI with an impact sub.
Who will open with Rohit Sharma?
The first name on the team sheet is ‘Mumbai cha Raja’ himself. Rohit Sharma was speculated to leave the franchise after IPL 2024 when he was stripped off the captaincy. But the Indian skipper stood loyal and was the franchise’s fourth retention pick. After a wait for several seasons, Rohit finally had a 400+ run IPL last season, where he smashed 417 runs at a superb SR of 150.00. While he would continue smashing the bowlers early on, the question remains on who would join him as an opener.
There is a tussle between Will Jacks and Ryan Rickelton. Both international players play with an attacking mindset. While Rickelton provides help in wicket-keeping duties, Jacks is a handy spinner too. However, Jacks has a higher ceiling and should partner Rohit. He has scored almost 5000 T20 runs at a SR of 157.62 and even hammered a hundred last IPL season, playing for RCB.
Suryakumar Yadav to lead strong MI middle-order
Mumbai Indians have one of the best middle-orders. Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav are certain No. 3 and No. 4s. While one would feel that SKY’s best position is at number three, we saw how lethal Tilak is when he bats at one down. He recently also became the first player ever to smash three T20 centuries—all coming while batting at number three. Suryakumar, the Indian T20I skipper, will hold a huge key in the middle order. He is still the X-factor and would love to dominate the bowlers.
We have put the wicketkeeper, Robin Minz, at five. MI made a mistake by not going for a world-class keeper, and thus the void left by Ishan Kishan would be felt. Regardless, Minz is a proper talent and has a reputation for hitting big sixes. He is even playing lower down the order for Jharkhand in the ongoing SMAT. Following him is the MI skipper Hardik Pandya himself. He is currently the world’s best all-rounder, and his superb performances at SMAT are just rollicking everybody. Pandya has 5224 runs and 181 wickets in 280 T20 matches.
More on IPL 2025
Who would be the extra batter with Impact Sub rule?
The Impact Sub rule at IPL provides a huge advantage to the batting teams. With this, they add an extra batter in the first innings. But who are the options for MI now? Well, their Rs 5.25 crore signing Naman Dhir is there, but his best comes while playing in the top-order, a place that is already stacked. Hence, the option is Bevon Jacobs. The New Zealander is an unknown commodity to many. Jacobs has played just 9 T20s but has operated at a SR of 188.73. MI scouts have put a huge faith in the 22-year-old.
Bumrah-Boult-Chahar! MI bowling attack
Kudos to the Mumbai Indians for roping in Trent Boult. The former MI pacer formed one of the greatest bowling pairs with Jasprit Bumrah as the two won them the title in IPL 2020. His backup is Reece Topley, which is a great buy too, but he is injury-prone as well.
Meanwhile, MI went hard on Bhuvneshwar Kumar but failed to get him as he was bought by RCB. Then, MI went all in for Deepak Chahar, who will take up the new-ball responsibility with Boult. MI also have brought in Mitchell Santner, who will solve their long-term problem of lack of spin bowlers. The duo of Chahar and Boult would also mean that Bumrah doesn’t have to bowl 2 overs in the powerplay. He could be very well used in the death overs now. Mind you, this is the batting first Playing XI for MI, and still they have five proper bowling options alongside the part-time off-spin of Jacks.
Best Playing XI for MI for IPL 2025 (batting first)
| S No. | Player | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rohit Sharma | Batter |
| 2 | Will Jacks (O) | All-rounder |
| 3 | Tilak Varma | Batter |
| 4 | Suryakumar Yadav | Batter |
| 5 | Robin Minz | Keeper |
| 6 | Hardik Pandya | All-rounder& Captain |
| 7 | Bevon Jacobs(O)/Naman Dhir | Batter |
| 8 | Mitchell Santner | All-rounder |
| 9 | Deepak Chahar | Bowler |
| 10 | Jasprit Bumrah | Bowler |
| 11 | Trent Boult (O) | Bowler |
