Impact Player for Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Trent Boult likely options at IPL 2025

The Mumbai Indians (MI)—a franchise that has seen success like no other, winning five IPL titles in a span of eight years. But since their IPL 2020 triumph, something has not clicked. They haven’t featured in any of the IPL finals, consistently being inconsistent. IPL 2024 saw the return of Hardik Pandya, who had his fair share of challenges in front of him. But MI fans, hope for a better upcoming IPL 2025. After all, the Mumbai-based franchise has built a decent enough roster to be in contention once again.

MI, who finished with a wooden spoon last year, bought back just two players at the IPL 2025 mega auction: Naman Dhir and Arjun Tendulkar. It is now a completely looking side if we put aside the five “mega” retentions for MI: Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, and Tilak Varma. Having said that, Mumbai are known for their shrewd picks and building a power-packed team combination. With the “Impact Sub” rule continuing for at least the next three seasons, let us dissect who could be the Mumbai Indians’ (MI) potential impact players.

IPL 2025: Should MI play Rohit Sharma as Impact Sub?

This take might startle some fans, but hear me out. 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. Having said that, he is not the captain anymore. Yes, his leadership could help Mumbai Indians on the field, but MI already have quite a few “captaincy materials” in their XI.

With him now in the twilight of his career, Rohit should just focus on his batting, or rather enjoy his time in the middle rather than grinding it hard near the boundary ropes. By the time IPL 2025 kicks in, Rohit would’ve played the entire Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), an ODI bilateral against England, and the all-important ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Hence, it might be frugal for MI to utilise Rohit just as a batter.

Naman Dhir could used as well

The Mumbai Indians (MI) already have a stacked batting lineup. Hence, if included, Naman Dhir would be batting lower down the order. He could be an Impact Player option too but Naman can also roll his arm over as well. In his FC career, the Punjab-born batter has 12 wickets at an economy of 3.29. Hence, it would be better for him to be included in the Playing XI altogether.

Latest on IPL 2025

IPL 2025: Why Trent Boult would be an ideal swap for Rohit

Now, which bowler should swap with Rohit Sharma as an impact player? Who should come in as a replacement as an additional bowler in place of a batter in the second innings? Well, the answer should be simple: Trent Boult. Kudos to the Mumbai Indians for roping in 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.

Having Boult in, MI would have a superb pace bowling arsenal in the form of Bumrah, Boult, Deepak Chahar and Pandya. Note, we are able to bring in an overseas player as an impact sub only because in the playing XI below, we have put just three foreign players as starters.

Best Playing XI for MI for IPL 2025 (bowling first) with Impact Sub

S No.	Player	Role
1	Ryan Rickelton (O)	Keeper
2	Tilak Varma	Batter
3	Suryakumar Yadav	Batter
4	Will Jacks (O)	All-rounder
5	Hardik Pandya	All-rounder& Captain
6	Naman Dhir	Batting all-rounder
7	Mitchell Santner (O)	All-rounder
8	Deepak Chahar	Bowling All-rounder
9	Karn Sharma	Bowler
10	Jasprit Bumrah	Bowler
11	Trent Boult (O)	Bowler

Best Playing XI for MI for IPL 2025 (batting first) with Impact Sub

S No.	Player	Role
1	Rohit Sharma	Batter
2	Ryan Rickelton (O)	Keeper
3	Tilak Varma	Batter
4	Suryakumar Yadav	Batter
5	Will Jacks (O)	All-rounder
6	Hardik Pandya	All-rounder& Captain
7	Naman Dhir	Batting all-rounder
8	Mitchell Santner (O)	All-rounder
9	Deepak Chahar	Bowling All-rounder
10	Karn Sharma	Bowler
11	Jasprit Bumrah	Bowler

Who are Impact Players in IPL?

Before the start of the play, captains of the two teams can name five substitutes to replace one of the players. Introduced in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2023, the Impact Player rule was supposed to make the matches more exciting. After a successful trial run, it was added to IPL 2023. And it was an instant hit. In IPL 2024, its full extent of benefits came to the fore when in excess of 200 runs became routine.

It gives the franchises a second chance at correcting mistakes in the playing XI. The 12th player could become the saviour. A team can introduce an additional batter if there is a batting collapse or a bowler if the bowling department hasn’t got the desired results.