Five-time IPL winners Mumbai Indians, with less than ten days until the 18th Indian Premier League season, named Bollywood star Jackie Shroff their 'spirit coach' on Thursday. The first phase of MI's brand-new season campaign, #PlayLikeMumbai, was released as the city prepares for the 2025 Indian Premier League. It pays homage to Mumbai's tenacity, fearlessness, and streetwise cricket culture, which define the city and its legendary franchise.
Jackie Shroff joins MI
MI made the unexpected announcement that Jackie Shroff, a Bollywood star, would be their new spirit coach. Jackie's addition is probably going to give the team a new taste with his dramatic lines and tough-looking persona from Mumbai. An MI social media clip shows Shroff motivating his team in a very "Bhidu" way, reaffirming the idea that Mumbai's unvarnished and audacious approach will rule this season's campaign.
Jackie, a native of Mumbai, is also an environmentalist, and his film quietly demonstrates this by showing him holding a tiny plant as he gives his message.
Additionally, MI has introduced its own take on the term "Fab 5," which is typically used to refer to cricket legends. Five of the team's most seasoned and significant players—Hardik Pandya (Bhai), Suryakumar Yadav (Dada), Jasprit Bumrah (Boss), Tilak Varma (Bunty), and Rohit Sharma (Bhidu)—have been selected to be a part of this exclusive club.
On Sunday, March 23 at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium, the five-time champion Mumbai Indians (MI) will play their opening match of the Indian Premier League 2025 (IPL 2025) against their bitter rivals, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Mumbai had a terrible season the year before, finishing at the bottom of the points table with only four victories from 14 games and eight points.
Hardik Pandya, MI's captain who succeeded Rohit Sharma, had a very challenging season. Fans nationwide jeered the all-round player, voicing their displeasure with Rohit is handling of the player who has guided them to each of their five championship wins. But after his exploits in the T20 World Cup 2024, when he successfully defended 15 runs in the penultimate over against South Africa, Pandya was able to win back his supporters.
MI IPL 2025 squad
Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Trent Boult, Naman Dhir, Robin Minz, Karn Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Deepak Chahar, Allah Ghazanfar, Will Jacks, Ashwani Kumar, Mitchell Santner, Reece Topley, Krishnan Shrijith, Raj Angad Bawa, Satyanarayana Raju, Bevon Jacobs, Arjun Tendulkar, Lizaad Williams, Vignesh Puthur