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ToggleThe former middle-order batter of India, Mohammad Kaif, has made an interesting selection for the opening combination of the Mumbai Indians (MI) for the upcoming 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the end of the mega auction, where they seemed to have picked a very balanced squad.
The inclusion of the top order batter from England, who can also work as an all-rounder, Will Jacks, for a price of just INR 5.25 crore, is a steal for the franchise as quite surprisingly, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) decided not to use their Right to Match (RTM) card for the player.
Even though most of the fans have predicted him to open with Rohit Sharma for the Mumbai side, Mohammad Kaif reckons that Jacks could be pushed down, at number four to accommodate Tilak Verma and Suryakumar Yadav up the order. Tilak recently smashed two successive centuries for India in the T20Is against South Africa and has claimed the third position in the ICC rankings.
Mohammad Kaif reacts to the bowling department of Mumbai Indians In IPL 2025
The Hyderabad-born batter has smashed 616 runs in just 19 T20I innings at an average of over 50 and a strike rate of more than 160 with the help of two centuries and a couple of half-centuries at the best score of unbeaten 120 runs. He earned 416 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of around 150 during the previous season of the IPL.
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“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.” Mohammad Kaif expressed during the discussion on Star Sports regarding the potential opening partner of Rohit in IPL 2025.
The veteran felt that the five-time champions are expected to go with an inexperienced wicket-keeper in the new season in the form of Robin Minz, who missed the last season of the competition due to his car accident.
In the two T20s he has played for Jharkhand, the 22-year-old wicket-keeper batter has smacked 36 runs at a strike rate of 276.92 against Manipur in Mumbai.
“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).” Mohammad Kaif explained.
Naman can be another great future prospect for the franchise, who has invested in the player using the Right to Match (RTM) card. The Punjab batter has nailed 204 T20 runs in 13 innings at a strike rate of more than 165, with the best score of an unbeaten 62 runs.
They can also look to go with Ryan Rickelton in the overseas department for the wicketkeeper. Mohammad Kaif is excited with both Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult bowling together, figuring their bowling attack ‘sorted.’
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“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.” The former batter of India elaborated.
“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 has a very solid team on paper.” Mohammad Kaif concluded.
Likely MI XI Picked By Mohammad Kaif
Rohit Sharma, Tilak Verma, Suryakumar Yadav, Naman Dhir, Hardik Pandya, Will Jacks, Robin Minz, Mitchell Santer, Deepak Chahar, Allah Ghazanfar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult.