Former India player Mohammad Kaif said that Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma could be the Mumbai Indians’ (MI) opening combination in IPL 2025. He also added that Will Jacks can bat down the order to accommodate Tilak and Suryakumar Yadav in the top three as well.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Kaif added, “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.”

“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),” Kaif shared again.

In the same discussion, Mohammad Kaif also added that the Mumbai Indians’ bowling attack is ‘sorted,’ with the presence of Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, and Deepak Chahar as pace bowlers.

“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,” he said. “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 likely MI XI (with Impact Player): Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Naman Dhir. Hardik Pandya, Will Jacks, Robin Minz, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Allah Ghazanfar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult