"Until he comes, this team will look slightly weak" - Aakash Chopra on MI ahead of IPL 2025 clash vs KKR

Former India player Aakash Chopra has opined that the Mumbai Indians (MI) will continue to be a little weak in IPL 2025 until Jasprit Bumrah is back in their XI. However, he noted that the five-time champions also need to pick the right playing combination, and the ones chosen need to deliver the goods for them to return to winning ways.

MI will lock horns with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match 12 of IPL 2025 in Mumbai on Monday, March 31. Bumrah hasn't yet recovered from the back injury he sustained in the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 and is not available for the game.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener acknowledged that the Mumbai Indians have been considerably weakened due to Bumrah's absence but added that they need to correct a few other things.

"I think they are missing Jasprit Bumrah very badly, and until he comes, this team will look slightly weak. However, he will come when he has to, but are those who are there doing the right things? In my opinion, they need to pick their XI properly, which they are not doing," he said (6:50).

Chopra noted that Rohit Sharma needs to be among the runs for the franchise to do well.

"I feel these are the changes they need to make - Rohit Sharma needs to score runs, or else the team won't function. He has scored a total of eight runs off eight balls in two matches, which is not good enough," he observed.

The former KKR player added that MI should include Will Jacks and Reece Topley in their playing XI at Ryan Rickelton and Mujeeb Ur Rahman's expense.

"Ryan Rickelton will have to be dropped and Will Jacks will have to be played. Play Will Jacks and make him open. After that, you will have to drop Mujeeb. There is no need to play Mujeeb. Play Reece Topley," Chopra opined.

Rickelton scored six runs off nine deliveries in the Mumbai Indians' 36-run loss in their IPL 2025 clash against the Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad two days ago. Mujeeb registered figures of 1/28 in two overs in that game.

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"Your bowling plan is wrong" - Aakash Chopra questions MI's usage of Satyanarayana Raju at the death ahead of IPL 2025 clash vs KKR

Satyanarayana Raju registered figures of 1/40 in three overs in MI's IPL 2025 loss to GT. [P/C: iplt20.com]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra opined that the Mumbai Indians shouldn't use Satyanarayana Raju as a death specialist in their IPL 2025 clash against the Kolkata Knight Riders.

"Your bowling plan is wrong. Satyanarayana Raju is a good bowler. He bowls back-of-the-hand slower ones at the death, but should he be your death specialist? You have to get your death bowling done between (Trent) Boult, Topley, Bumrah and Deepak Chahar," he said (7:40).

The analyst reckoned that Mitchell Santner should be the only specialist spinner in MI's playing XI and urged their batters to play more responsibly.

"Mitchell Santner will be your lone spinner. If you want more bowling, Tilak Varma or someone else can be your sixth bowler. You need to get the batting order and the team right. The batters will have to take a little more responsibility because it would become difficult if you start the season with three consecutive losses," Chopra observed.

Aakash Chopra noted that while the talk is about the Mumbai Indians missing Jasprit Bumrah, their batting is letting them down. He added that MI would have to start their winning streak in Monday's game, or else they would encounter only speed breakers in their IPL 2025 playoff qualification path.