‘I see Tilak Varma and Rohit Sharma opening this time’ – Mohammed Kaif’s take on MI’s playing XI in IPL 2025

Mohammed Kaif on Tilak Varma and Rohit Sharma. (Photo Source: Twitter/X)

Mumbai Indians are all set for the new season of the IPL (Indian Premier League). Spending quite a lot in the recently concluded mega auction, the five-time champions managed to rope in big names like Trent Boult, Will Jacks, Reece Topley, and many more stars.

With their squad set up, former India cricketer Mohammed Kaif took centre stage and talked about Mumbai Indians’ potential playing XI in the new season of the IPL. Kaif opined that Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma could open for the side with Will Jacks coming in after the fall of the first wicket.

“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.

Also Read: MI Team 2025 Player List: Complete Mumbai Indians (MI) Squad and Players List for IPL 2025

The bowling is sorted: Kaif

Furthermore, Kaif also talked about the Mumbai Indians’ bowling attack. With the likes of Trent Boult, Reece Topley, Jasprit Bumrah, and many more on the side, MI will hope to depend a lot 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.