The Mumbai Indians team and staff got to Chennai Thursday night. They’ve got three days before their huge game against their biggest rivals, the Chennai Super Kings, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
Hardik Pandya, the Mumbai captain, came out of the airport first, with Tilak Varma right behind him. The team kept both of them as key players.
Next up was Rohit Sharma, who got a huge welcome from the Chennai fans.
#WATCH | Tamil Nadu: Players and staff of Mumbai Indians arrive at Chennai airport for their first IPL match against Chennai Super Kings at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. pic.twitter.com/ww81eYOYIu
— ANI (@ANI) March 20, 2025
Mumbai has a lot to prove this year. They came in last place in the IPL 2024 season, which is surprising since they’ve won five titles.
Before the IPL 2025 big auction, Mumbai decided to keep five players: Pandya, Varma, Rohit, Suryakumar Yadav (India’s T20I captain), and Jasprit Bumrah, who is a top Indian fast bowler. But, there are questions if Bumrah will even play because he’s been out for a couple of months with a stress injury.
Pandya mentioned that the Impact Player rule is here to stay for three more years. Now, to get into the starting eleven, a player needs to be a true all-rounder.
The BCCI decided to keep the rule until at least IPL 2027, even though some top Indian players weren’t too thrilled about it. Rohit even said that it was stopping Indian all-rounders from getting better because teams would just swap them out for an extra batter or bowler during the game.
Pandya won’t be playing in Mumbai’s first game on Sunday, March 23. He’s suspended because of how slow his team’s over-rate was in 2024. Suryakumar will be in charge for that game.
When Pandya came back to Mumbai in 2024, things weren’t easy. The team didn’t do well, finishing last out of 10 teams. The home crowd even booed him. Considering they’ve won five IPL titles, Mumbai hasn’t been doing so hot these last four years.
Despite everything, Pandya thinks he’s getting better as a player, and he’s still super confident.
