Ryan Rickelton To Partner Rohit Sharma: MI’s Probable Batting Order For IPL 2025

Bhargav Dixit

MI finished at the 10th position last season. [Source: @CricCrazyJohns/X]MI finished at the 10th position last season. [Source: @CricCrazyJohns/X]

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Between 2021-2024, Mumbai Indians spent three out of four seasons without qualifying for Indian Premier League playoffs for the first time in the history of the cash-rich competition. Having finished at the last position twice in the last three seasons, this is unequivocally the worst MI have ever performed.

That the franchise’s win/loss ratio of 0.705 is the second-worst in this period isn’t surprising. Neither is the fact that their batting average of 25.98 is bettered by as many as seven teams. Taking all of this into consideration, how Mumbai shape their IPL 2025 batting order would hold immense importance.

Below is Mumbai Indians’ possible batting combination for the 18th season of the IPL:

New Opening Partner For Rohit Sharma

As Indians’ opening batters, Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan played 100 out of the 116 innings across the last four seasons. With the latter no longer part of the franchise, the biggest conundrum lies at the top of the order.

Bought for INR 5.25 crore and INR 1 crore respectively, one out of England’s Will Jacks or South Africa’s Ryan Rickelton will partner Sharma against the new ball. Because of his better numbers in the last 12 months, Rickelton is likely to come out alongside Sharma on March 23. More importantly, as a left-handed wicket-keeper batter, he is Kishan's like-for-like replacement.

Unlike Sharma’s opening partner, there shouldn’t be any ambiguity for the team management to pick Suryakumar Yadav, arguably the best T20 batter going around, at No. 3.

A Debutant In The Middle-Order

Having proved his mettle at Royal Challengers Bengaluru last season, Will Jacks' Mumbai debut is likely to come at No. 4.

With Tilak Varma all but cementing his spot in India’s T20I Playing XI, one expects him to bat at No. 5, if not No. 3 like international cricket. Considering the success he’s achieved at the highest level now, his IPL team shouldn't bat him below No. 5.

Captain Hardik Pandya and all-rounder Mitchell Santner, both A-list all-rounders in international cricket, will grab the remaining two spots in the batting order.

Impact Player Options

    Reserve batter Naman Dhir, who was promoted ahead of Yadav in the batting order a few times last season, appears to be the topmost candidate to be used a batting Impact Player. Depending on the situation and conditions, the likes of Krishnan Shrijith, Robin Minz, Raj Angad Bawa, Bevon Jacobs could also be used in the same role.

    MI’s Probable Batting Order

    Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Will Jacks, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Mitchell Santner