 "Mumbai Indians: Three new players, including Jonny Bairstow, will be available for Hardik Pandya's team in the Eliminator")
Mumbai Indians (MI) face a do-or-die scenario against Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 Eliminator today (30 May, Friday) at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, Chandigarh. Bolstering MI’s chances in the Eliminator will be three new replacement players , including IPL veteran Jonny Bairstow.
MI signing Bairstow, Richard Gleeson and Charith Asalanka as replacements for Will Jacks, Ryan Rickelton and Corbin Bosch was announced some 10 days ago but they weren’t available in the league stage.
New players join MI for playoffs
With MI now entering the playoffs with the Eliminator, they will have the option to use Bairstow, Gleeson and Asalanka. MI will be playing Rs 5.25 crore for Bairstow, while English pacer Gleeson came in for Rs 1 crore. Asalanka signed at a reserve price of Rs 75 lakh.
Mumbai Indians were forced to sign Bairstow and other players as replacements because Jacks, Rickelton and Bosch had to leave the IPL for national duties. IPL was expected to end by 25 May, but it has been postponed a bit due to the India-Pakistan conflict.
Bairstow is expected to join the playing XI straightaway for Rickelton, who scored 388 runs in 14 matches and was Mumbai’s second-highest run-getter in the league stage. Jacks played in 13 matches, scoring 233 runs while Bosch played just two matches, scoring 47 runs and taking one wicket.
Jonny Bairstow’s IPL record
The England wicketkeeper-batter Bairstow has overall played 50 matches in the IPL in the past. He has 1589 runs to his name in IPL at a strike rate of 144.45 and an average of 34.54. The 35-year-old has also smashed two centuries in the past.
Besides Bairstow, Asalanka may also come into the playing XI in place of Jacks, but Gleeson is expected to be on the bench.
The winning team from the Eliminator will progress to Qualifier 2, where they will take on Punjab Kings (PBKS), who lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Qualifier 1.
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