“Baffling indeed” - Indian legend slams Mumbai Indians’ batting order amid struggle in IPL 2025

Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar slammed the Mumbai Indians (MI) for not having the talented Tilak Varma bat at No.3 for them in the ongoing 2025 IPL season. The left-hander came into the IPL after scoring runs and centuries for fun at No.3 for India in T20Is.

Tilak averages an incredible 55.37 at a strike rate of almost 170 in 13 T20I innings at one drop with two centuries. However, his versatility has seemingly worked against him, with MI predominantly opting for a top three of Rohit Sharma, Ryan Ricelton, and Will Jacks, with the occasional sprinkling of Naman Dhir.

It has resulted in MI losing four out of their first six games and Tilak struggling to make an impact, batting mostly at No.5. Furthermore, he had to retire out for 25 in MI's 12-run loss to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).

Reflecting on MI's early struggles in his column for the Mid Day, Gavaskar wrote:

"Mumbai team’s reluctance to send Tilak Varma at No. 3 despite his stellar record for India at that number is baffling indeed. However good an overseas batter may be, it is not easy for him to immediately come to terms with the Indian pitches, which is all the more reason for an Indian who has thrived at that number should be sent there and not dropped down the order."

Despite batting out of position, Tilak has slowly returned to his best, with back-to-back half-centuries in MI's last two outings. The southpaw finally walled into bat a position higher at No.4 in MI's latest game against the Delhi Capitals (DC) and scored a brilliant 33-ball 59.

It helped MI post a massive 205/5 in 20 overs and win the contest by 12 runs.

"The bounceability is no longer the same" - Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar believes MI have lost their sheen of bouncing back from slow starts in the IPL. Notorious for slow starts and losing their opening game in an IPL season, MI bounced back several times to win five IPL titles in the 2010s.

However, the franchise has struggled to display similar qualities over the past few seasons, failing to qualify for the playoffs in three of the last four IPL editions.

"There was a time when Mumbai fans weren’t too worried if their team started slowly because they knew that they would come back strongly in the second half. However, the last couple of years have shown that the bounceability is no longer the same. T20 cricket demands quick thinking and super fast decision making and that is yet to be seen from both Chennai and Mumbai," wrote Gavaskar.

Their latest win over DC helped MI break a two-game losing streak and move up to seventh on the points table. Hardik Pandya's Men will take on the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Mumbai onn April 17.