Mumbai Indians (MI) succeeded in building a solid squad at the IPL 2025 auction alongside retaining their core group of players. However, they are now tasked with finding a new opener who can partner with Rohit Sharma at the top. Apart from the Hitman, none of the stars picked by MI are capable of handling the responsibility as opener. Unless, the team decides to take a radical approach and try someone new at that position.
Who will open for MI with Rohit Sharma in IPL 2025?
Previously, Ishan Kishan served as Rohit Sharma‘s partner at the other end as opener. The keeper-batter was released by the franchise and will now play for SRH in IPL 2025. The likes of Tilak Varma and Will Jacks are options that MI could consider but it should be noted that they are at their destructive best in the middle-order. Uncapped wicketkeeper-batter Robin Minz and batter Naman Dhir could be the wildcard options MI would be looking for. But that would of course be a gamble for the five-time champions.
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It looks like MI forgot about finding a replacement for an opener during the IPL 2025 auction. The team’s core retentions indicated that they wanted to retain a strong middle-order, apart from a premier batter and bowler each. Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Tilak Varma and Jasprit Bumrah were MI’s retentions before IPL 2025 auction. However, none of these players, barring Rohit, are an apt fit to be openers. MI’s auction strategy has reaped rewards in terms of recruiting a terrorizing middle-order but has left a void at the top that desperately needs to be filled.
MI squad for IPL 2025
Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Trent Boult, Naman Dhir, Robin Minz, Karn Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Deepak Chahar, Will Jacks, Ashwani Kumar, Mitchell Santner, Reece Topley, Shrijith Krishnan, Raj Angad Bawa, Satanyarayana Raju, Bevon Jacobs, Arjun Tendulkar, Lizaad Williams, Vignesh Puthur
