Before the IPL 2025 mega auction, former Indian batter and cricket analyst Aakash Chopra has predicted hahal’s Next Team while suggesting that the Mumbai Indians (MI) need to strengthen their bowling attack to remain competitive.
Chopra thinks the Mumbai Indians’ (MI) title hopes depend on improving their bowling, especially their spin attack. As MI prepares for the IPL 2025 mega auction, he has highlighted their need to upgrade this area.
The Mumbai Indians have retained a strong batting lineup, keeping key players like Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, along with star all-rounder Hardik Pandya and pace leader Jasprit Bumrah.
However, Chopra noted that the five-time champions’ bowling attack is their weak spot, which could hurt their chances in the coming season. He suggested that MI’s bowling unit needs serious attention at the upcoming IPL 2025 mega auction.
He believes MI should add quality spinners to fill gaps in their attack and come back stronger for IPL 2025. Chopra predicted that MI would aim for Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar, who were released by Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), respectively.
Chopra also pointed out MI’s heavy reliance on their strong batting lineup in IPL 2024, where they lost high-scoring games because of poor bowling. Their struggle to defend big scores of 225-250 has been a recurring issue, and Chopra warned that MI can’t rely solely on their batting for success.
In a video on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “Their batting has become strong again. The problem is they have only one bowler who can reliably bowl four overs, but they need more bowlers. Bowling let them down last time too. They used to score 225-250 runs, but they also gave up that many.”
Chopra concluded, “They were too dependent on their batting to perform, and scoring 20-40 runs over par each time is asking too much. They might end up with a full Indian batting lineup and an overseas bowling lineup, with a couple of Indian spinners. They will definitely go after Yuzvendra Chahal. I don’t know if they’ll get him, but they might also want Washington Sundar.”
Despite Washington Sundar’s limited appearances for SRH last season, Chopra believes MI might also go after him to boost their spin attack along with Chahal, which has been their weak link in recent IPL seasons.
