Mumbai Indians might have made an error of judgement by playing Mujeeb Ur Rahman instead of Will Jacks in the tie against Gujarat Titans. The move backfired as they were left reeling with lack of batting firepower in the run-chase in Ahmedabad. MI faced their second consecutive loss in IPL 2025, going down to Gill & co. by 36 runs at the Narendra Modi stadium.
MI’s move to drop Jacks & Puthur backfires
Along with Jacks, MI also decided to drop their young spinner Vignesh Puthur from the playing XI for the tie. Mujeeb bowled just two overs and was expensive in his short spell. He conceded 28 runs and took 1 wicket after which he was taken off the attack. He did not even come out to bat during MI’s run-chase.
It is here that Will Jacks could have made a difference. Not only would he have offered the same impact as Mujeeb with the ball, but could have also contributed effectively with the bat. It is pertinent to point out that Ahmedabad is the same venue where Jacks smashed the fifth fasted IPL century against the same GT in 2024.
At a time when the top-order featuring Rohit and Rickleton faltered and when MI were left reeling after the set duo of Tilak and SKY were dismissed, the England batter could have provided the much-needed boost with the bat in the run-chase. Surely, MI missed the trick by dropping him for Mujeeb.
Puthur shouldn’t have been dropped
Another notable omission from MI’s playing XI was that of Vignesh Puthur. The Kerala spinner tasted success in Chennai on his IPL debut, bagging 3 wickets. Given that the GT vs MI tie was played on a black soil pitch, the spinner could have easily made more impact in Ahmedabad. While pacers did enjoy more success at the venue on Saturday, Puthur could have provided the element of surprise for MI.
