IPL25
Follow UsMumbai Indians (MI) will find themselves in big trouble if Jasprit Bumrah fails to recover from his injury before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, starting on March 14. Bumrah suffered a back spasm during the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney and didn’t come out to bowl in the final innings of the match.
India surely missed his services and lost the Test and the series. Bumrah not being available for one innings cost India big time, so imagine him not being available for an entire tournament. Yes, that’s a scary thought, and that’s the exact thought the MI management must be having right now.
There is still no update on the extent of his injury, but if Bumrah misses the IPL 2025, MI will have to prepare for a life without their lead retention. Mumbai have Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, Reece Topley and Lizaad Williams in their set-up. They have seamers who can bowl in the powerplay and will be looking for someone who can largely bowl in middle and death overs.
You can’t replace Bumrah, who is an all-phase bowler, but here are three Indian seamers Mumbai Indians can look at as a possible replacement for the ace paceman for the upcoming season of IPL.
Kartik Tyagi
Kartik Tyagi has been around for more than five years but is still far from a finished product. The right-arm paceman has all the ingredients to succeed at the higher level but has somehow failed to crack the code.
The 24-year-old has an average of 47.5 and an economy rate of 10.1 in the 20 games he has played in the IPL but has shown glimpses of what he can do if he gets his things right. Tyagi defended four runs in the final over against Punjab Kings in 2021. Tyagi has got the age on his side, and Mumbai can mould him into a decent fast bowler in the 20-over format.
Shardul Thakur
Shardul Thakur’s numbers in T20 cricket have never been extraordinary but it was still surprising when he went unsold in the IPL 2025 mega auction. The right-arm seamer, who is also a handy batter down the order, has featured in 95 IPL games and picked up 94 wickets at an economy of 9.22.
Thakur, who plays domestic cricket for Mumbai and was also part of their 2024 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy-winning squad, has enough experience behind him. Thakur can be inconsistent, but if used correctly, like MS Dhoni did in Chennai Super Kings, the seamer could turn out to be a genuine wicket-taker for MI.
Navdeep Saini
It might not look like it, but Navdeep Saini is the best possible replacement for Mumbai Indians. Amongst all Indian seamers, Saini is the only bowler with an economy of less than 9.5 in all three phases of the game—less than 9 in the first and second phases. Overall, Saini has claimed 23 wickets in IPL at an economy of 8.9.
Saini is not a genuine wicket-taker, but an economy rate of 7.6 after 85 T20s doesn’t sound too bad.
