MI Predicted Playing 11 vs CSK for Match 3 of IPL 2025 ft. Ryan Rickelton & Suryakumar Yadav

The Mumbai Indians (MI) will battle it out against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Match 3 of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) on March 23. The second game of the double-header Sunday will be contested at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Experts have picked Mumbai as one of the favorites to go all the way in the competition, but they will be without two key players for their opening game of the season. Captain Hardik Pandya is serving a suspension for an over-rate offense last year, while Jasprit Bumrah is yet to recover from the back injury he sustained during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Suryakumar Yadav will lead the five-time champions in Hardik's absence. He and the team think tank have plenty of decisions to make when it comes to their ideal combination.

MI's squad for IPL 2025: Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Bevon Jacobs, Robin Minz, Ryan Rickelton, Krishnan Shrijith, Hardik Pandya, Naman Dhir, Will Jacks, Raj Angad Bawa, Vignesh Puthur, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Karn Sharma, Mitchell Santner, Jasprit Bumrah, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley, Satyanarayana Raju, Arjun Tendulkar, Corbin Bosch.

On that note, here is MI's predicted playing XI, including a couple of impact player options, for Match 3 of IPL 2025.

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Openers: Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton (wk)

Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians - Source: Getty

Former skipper Rohit Sharma will open the batting, but it's unclear who will partner him. Ryan Rickelton, being a left-hander who is in excellent form right now, might get the nod ahead of Will Jacks even though the Englishman is a useful off-spinner.

There's the possibility of Rickelton and Jacks featuring together as well, but that might dilute MI's bowling when they are already without Bumrah.

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Middle Order: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Robin Minz, Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner

Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians - Source: Getty

Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma and Naman Dhir, who were part of the franchise last year as well, will be part of the middle order. Keeper-batter Robin Minz could also get the nod.

Mitchell Santner at No. 7 is probably a position too high for him, but it's hard to see how MI will pick an extra batter without compromising on their bowling. They might have to rely on the Kiwi to take up increased batting responsibility.

In Hardik's absence, Raj Bawa and Corbin Bosch are close like-for-like replacements. However, while Bawa is inexperienced, Bosch might not add much value at Chepauk.

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Lower Order: Deepak Chahar, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Trent Boult, Satyanarayana Raju

New Zealand v Papua New Guinea - ICC Men's T20 Cricket World Cup West Indies & USA 2024 - Source: Getty

Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar were two of MI's most important signings at the IPL 2025 auction and will certainly feature in the opening game against CSK. The rest of the bowling attack, though, is hard to pick.

Satyanarayana Raju is reportedly set to be picked ahead of Ashwani Kumar, while Mujeeb Ur Rahman could edge out the other overseas options thanks to the fact that MI would like to give themselves at least two frontline spinners in Chennai. Mujeeb would also add a bit of cover in the back end of innings, which the franchise is short of without Bumrah.

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Impact Player Options - Karn Sharma, Vignesh Puthur

MI would ideally like to bring in a batting impact player, but their options are extremely limited on the bench. Arjun Tendulkar hasn't set the IPL stage on fire, while KL Shrijith is fairly inexperienced as well.

So the impact sub might be a third spin option. Karn Sharma endured a rough campaign last year, but he has plenty of games under his belt. MI could spring a surprise by throwing left-arm wrist-spinner Vignesh Puthur into the mix early. They've done that before with Raghav Goyal, and their scouting is known to be excellent.