Former player Aakash Chopra feels that Mumbai Indians have the best batting order and can post big totals in IPL 2025. Aakash Chopra praises a Mumbai Indians franchise with the most explosive batting line-up for IPL 2025. Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has said that Mumbai Indians’ only concern with their batting lineup will be a problem of plenty. Almost all of them are capable of playing in the top four, but there are not enough places on offer.
Aakash Chopra stated that with such a brilliant batting lineup, Mumbai Indians can regularly post huge totals at home, putting immense pressure on their opposition. The ten franchises in the Indian Premier League have assembled good squads for the 18th season of the tournament. Teams competed for their favorite players during a two-day auction process.
Mumbai Indians squad for IPL 2025
Mumbai Indians made some excellent additions to their squad as they look to redeem themselves after a disappointing IPL 2024 season. Mumbai Indians (MI) retained five capped players – Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, and Tilak Varma ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. They were left with a purse of 45 crore heading into the first day of the auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Sunday, November 24.
The former five-time champions roped in only four players on the first day of the IPL 2025 auction. They had to wait for nearly five hours before they could celebrate a new signing as they opened their account by bringing back star New Zealand seamer Trent Boult for a whopping INR 12.50 crore. Mumbai Indians went on to re-sign explosive Punjab batter Naman Dhir for INR 5.25 crores.
While they had to let go of impressive youngsters like Nehal Wadhera and Akash Madhwal, Mumbai rehired veteran leg-spinner Karn Sharma, who had won the IPL with the franchise in 2017, for INR 50 lakh. Their final signing on Day 1 was Jharkhand’s talented wicketkeeper-batter Robin Minz, who is dubbed as ‘The Chris Gayle of Jharkhand’, for INR 65 lakh.
MI started their proceedings on Day 2 by signing flamboyant South African wicketkeeper-batter Ryan Rickelton for his base price of INR 1 crore. Mumbai also acquired the services of experienced pacer Deepak Chahar and mystery spinner Allah Ghazanfar for INR 9.25 and 4.80 crore, respectively. The Hardik-led side also signed destructive England batter Will Jacks for INR 5.25 crores.
MI Retained players:
| Player | Role | Price |
| Jasprit Bumrah | Bowler | 18 crore |
| Hardik Pandya | All-rounder | 16.35 crore |
| Suryakumar Yadav | Batter | 16.35 crore |
| Rohit Sharma | Batter | 16.30 crore |
| Tilak Varma | Batting all-rounder | 8 crore |
Mumbai Indians (MI) Team 2025 players list:
| PLAYER | ROLE | PRICE |
| Jasprit Bumrah | Bowler | 18 crore |
| Hardik Pandya (c) | All-rounder | 16.35 crore |
| Suryakumar Yadav | Batter | 16.35 crore |
| Rohit Sharma | Batter | 16.30 crore |
| Trent Boult | Bowler | 12.50 crore |
| Deepak Chahar | Bowler | 9.25 crore |
| Tilak Varma | Batter | 8 crore |
| Naman Dhir | Batter | 5.25 crore |
| Will Jacks | Batter | 5.25 crore |
| Allah Ghazanfar | Bowler | 4.80 crore |
| Mitchell Santner | All-rounder | 2 crore |
| Ryan Rickelton | Wicketkeeper Batter | 1 crore |
| Reece Topley | Bowler | 75 lakh |
| Lizaad Williams | Bowler | 75 lakh |
| Robin Minz | Wicketkeeper Batter | 65 lakh |
| Karn Sharma | Bowler | 50 lakh |
| Ashwani Kumar | Bowler | 30 lakh |
| Krishnan Shrijith | Wicketkeeper Batter | 30 lakh |
| Raj Bawa | All-rounder | 30 lakh |
| Satyanarayana Raju | Bowler | 30 lakh |
| Bevon Jacobs | Batter | 30 lakh |
| Arjun Tendulkar | Bowler | 30 lakh |
| Vignesh Puthur | All-rounder | 30 lakh |
The Wankhede Stadium has always been batting-friendly, and with so many batters available, Aakash Chopra said that big totals on regular occasions are a clear possibility.
Aakash Chopra shares his opinion on Mumbai Indians squad after IPL 2025 auction
Aakash Chopra expects the Mumbai Indians (MI) to qualify for the IPL 2025 playoffs. He noted that their players’ fitness could hold the key to their prospects in the upcoming edition of the prestigious league.
MI spent ₹119.80 crore to assemble a 23-member squad, including five retentions, at the IPL 2025 auction. Trent Boult (₹12.50 crore), Deepak Chahar (₹9.25 crore), Will Jacks (₹5.25 crore), Naman Dhir (₹5.25 crore), and Allah Ghazanfar (₹4.80 crore) were their most expensive picks at the auction.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra,’ the former India opener was optimistic about the Mumbai Indians’ playoff qualification chances.
“The first 12 is looking good. You can push till 13 also but the backup is not that good in the rest of their squad. Unfortunately, the backup is not good for anyone. Fitness will be a concern. The make or break will be whether the Mumbai Indians bowling unit can remain fit,” he said
“If everyone remains fit, this team should actually make it to the final four. I will be extremely surprised if they don’t reach the final four. To be very honest, I was surprised last year as well. It seemed things were not right last time but now I think the MI family is together,” Chopra added.
Chopra expects the Mumbai Indians to activate beast mode in IPL 2025. He opined that the MI batters will take the opposition bowlers to the cleaners and that the opposing team batters will struggle to score runs against their new-ball attack.
Aakash Chopra expects Mumbai Indians to win more matches at Wankhede Stadium
In the same video, Aakash Chopra said the Mumbai Indians would need to win most of their home games.
“A lot of focus will be on making Wankhede their fortress again. Considering their team’s setup, they will have to win at least five of the seven matches at the Wankhede. They can win six also. They have that kind of team,” he said.
The analyst added that Hardik Pandya and company might have to include Mitchell Santner as an additional spinner in the playing XI in away games.
“The spin resources might look slightly less when they go away. You might see Mitchell Santner playing there and the batting may change a little bit. However, home will be an important aspect,” Chopra observed.
Chopra opined that finishing could be a potential issue for MI, highlighting that they will have to try and get Bevon Jacobs or Robin Minz to do the job that Tim David used to do. He added that they also have a problem of plenty in the bowling department for the powerplay overs and need to find a suitable partner for Jasprit Bumrah at the death.