Mumbai Indians Players Arrive At Chennai Airport Ahead Of Mega Weekend Clash: Watch
Mumbai skipper Hardik Pandya was the first one seen coming out of the airport, followed by Tilak Varma, both of whom were retained by the franchise as part of the 'core' team.
Mumbai Indians players and support staff arrived in Chennai on Thursday night, with three days to go for their mega clash against arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in the city.
Mumbai skipper Hardik Pandya was the first one seen coming out of the airport, followed by Tilak Varma, both of whom were retained by the franchise as part of the ‘core’ team.
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India skipper Rohit Sharma followed next and was greeted with massive fanfare and cheers by the Chennai crowd. Watch the video here:
Mumbai have a task at hand this year, having finished last in IPL 2024 despite having the rich reputation of winning five titles in the tournament.
Mumbai retained five players ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction: Pandya, Varma, Rohit, India’s T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav and ace India pacer Jasprit Bumrah, although there are doubts over the latter’s participation in the tournament given a stress injury that has kept him out of action for the past two months.
Meanwhile, Pandya has said that now that the contentious Impact Player rule has been extended by three years, a player has to be a pure allrounder to find a place in the playing XI.
BCCI extended the rule to at least IPL 2027 despite reservations from leading Indian players, including Rohit who said that the Impact Player strategy was holding back the development of Indian allrounders with sides replacing them with an extra batter or bowler during the match.
Pandya will miss Mumbai’s opening match on Sunday, March 23 because of a game suspension for over-rate-related offences in 2024. Suryakumar will lead the team.
Pandya’s return to Mumbai in 2024 wasn’t the smoothest as the storied team finished last among 10 sides. He was booed by the home crowd as well. Considering their five IPL titles, Mumbai have had a dry run in the last four years.
Pandya has said that he believes that he is evolving as a cricketer notwithstanding his unshakeable confidence.
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