Rohit Sharma, captain of the Indian men’s cricket team, is all poised to open along with South African wicketkeeper-batter Ryan Rickelton for Mumbai Indians in the coming 2025 season of the cash-rich Indian Premier League. Signed for Rs. 1 crore by the Mumbai-based club in last year’s IPL 2025 mega auction, Rickelton played for MI Cape Town, MI sister franchise, on SA20 2025.
Most probably batting at No will be the five-time champions’ three-times champions who were held for Rs 8 crore, Rs 16.35 crore and Rs 16.35 crore respectively captain Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma. 5, 4 and 3. India’s No. 6, Tilak, hit two T20I hundreds. Three batter against South Africa last November explains why management could support him to bat at No. 3 over all the season.
Three good Indian bats in the middle order gives Mumbai Indians flexibility to employ South Africa’s Corbin Bosch or New Zealand wonder Bevon Jacobs as a finisher. Signed to replace Lizaad Williams in March 2025, Bosch also played for MI Cape Town in SA20 2025.
Although MI bought England all-rounder Will Jacks for Rs 5.25 crore in the big auction last year, the existence of some major batting skill at the top order might leave Jacks waiting for his turn.
Missing a top spinner in the last three IPL seasons, the Mumbai Indians will this time have the opportunity to pick between New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner and Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who came in for his injured national teammate Allah Ghazanfar last month.
MI might choose both Santner and Mujeeb in the playing XI to help stifle middle-overs opponents, so they can bat in the middle innings.
Although Jasprit Bumrah is currently sidelined with a lower back injury, he is expected to recuperate in days and be ready for selection. Leading MI’s bowling assault and backed by New Zealand’s Trent Boult, signed for Rs 12.50 crore, and India’s Deepak Chahar, signed for Rs 9.25 crore, will be the 31-year-old quick bowler.
Apart from Robin Minz, a dynamic wicketkeeper-batter, Punjab batsman Naman Dhir—signed by MI using an RTM card in the mega auction—could be a game changer in the competition.
Mumbai Indians’ probable playing XI for IPL 2025: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (WK), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult.
Impact players: Robin Minz, Corbin Bosch, Bevon Jacobs, Karn Sharma, Raj Bawa.
