IPL 2025: Rohit Sharma benched! Why Mumbai Indians excluded former captain from playing XI against KKR? Explained

Mumbai Indians surprised everyone when the five-time champions didn't include former captain Rohit Sharma in the playing XI against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) during their first home encounter of the IPL 2025 at the Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai Indians have lost both their games so far in the season.

Playing his first game at the Wankhede Stadium in the IPL after a forgetful 2024 season, Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya opted to bowl first after winning the toss. Winless in IPL 2025 so far, Mumbai Indians made three changes, bringing in Will Jacks, Vignesh Puthur and Ashwani Kumar (on debut).

While Englishman Will Jacks replaced Mujeeb Ur Rahman of Afghanistan, Robin Minz made way for Vignesh Puthur, who impressed on his debut with three wickets against Chennai Super Kings.

Ashwani Kumar, who grabbed the eyeballs of Mumbai Indians scouts in the Sher-e-Punjab T20 tournament, replaced Andhra Pradesh pacer Satyanarayana Raju. However, the major surprise came when Rohit Sharma didn't find a place in the playing XI.

Why MI exclude Rohit Sharma from playing XI?

The first IPL captain to win five titles, Rohit Sharma is a part of the Impact Player's list and may come out to bat during Mumbai Indians' chase. For the unknown, Rohit Sharma is Mumbai Indians' all-time leading run scorer in IPL with 5466 runs in 214 matches. In fact, Rohit Sharma is also one of the few players to score 1000 runs against KKR.

MI vs KKR playing XIs in IPL 2025

Kolkata Knight Riders: Quinton de Kock(w), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy

Mumbai Indians: Ryan Rickelton, Will Jacks(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Ashwani Kumar, Vignesh Puthur

Stay updated on all the action from theIPL 2025. Check theIPL 2025 Schedule, track the latestIPL 2025 Points Table, and follow the top performers with theOrange Cap andPurple Cap.