Former Royal Challengers Bengaluru star Mohammad Kaif picks the playing XI for Mumbai Indians (MI) for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Mumbai-based franchise spent a lot on players during the mega-auction as they managed to rope in big names like Trent Boult, Will Jacks, Reece Topley, and many more stars.
Kaif said that Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma would be the openers and Will Jacks would play at number three.
"Will Jacks will have to come down the order. I see Tilak Varma and Rohit Sharma opening this time. After that, Suryakumar Yadav will come at No. 3. He always plays at No. 3 and generally plays well too. You can keep Hardik Pandya around No. 5 and Jacks will come after that," Kaif told Star Sports.
"Naman Dhir is also there. So these are the six. You will have to get a young batter here (potentially Robin Minz as a wicketkeeper-batter). One batter might not be that known. So one thing is lacking there but they made a good comeback from yesterday (Day 1) to today (Day 2)," he added.
MI brought back their premier pacer Trent Boult, who played for Rajasthan Royals in the last edition of the tournament. Now the Hardik Pandya-led side will have Trent Boult, Reece Topley, Jasprit Bumrah, and many more. MI hopes to depend heavily on their bowling performances.
"If you leave aside one or two players, all their players are proven match-winners. The bowling is sorted. Deepak Chahar bowls very well. He has done that for Chennai. You will see Trent Boult and Bumrah bowling together. Hardik Pandya is also bowling. The one weakness the Mumbai Indians had was spin. Santner's inclusion has resolved that issue to a large extent. Mumbai have a very solid team on paper," Kaif observed.
Mohammad Kaif's playing XI for Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Will Jacks, Naman Dhir, Robin Minz, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Mitchell Santner, Reece Topley
Mumbai Indians squad
Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Trent Boult (Rs. 12.50 crore), Naman Dhir (Rs. 5.25 crore), Robin Minz (Rs. 65 lakh), Karn Sharma (Rs. 50 lakh), Ryan Rickelton (Rs. 1 crore), Deepak Chahar (Rs. 9.25 crore), Allah Ghazanfar (Rs. 4.80 crore), Will Jacks (Rs. 5.25 crore), Ashwani Kumar (Rs. 30 lakh), Mitchell Santner (Rs. 2 crore), Reece Topley (Rs. 75 lakh), Krishnan Shrijith (Rs. 30 lakh), Raj Angad Bawa (Rs. 30 lakh), Satyanarayana Raju (Rs. 30 lakh), Bevon Jacobs (Rs. 30 lakh), Arjun Tendulkar (Rs. 30 lakh), Lizaad Williams (Rs. 75 lakh), Vignesh Puthur (Rs. 30 lakh).
