Mon Mar 31 16:40:00 UTC 2025: ## Rohit Sharma Benched as Mumbai Indians Opt to Bowl First Against KKR
**Mumbai, India** – In a surprising move, Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya relegated former skipper Rohit Sharma to the substitutes’ bench for their IPL 2025 clash against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday. The decision came after Mumbai won the toss and elected to field first.
Sharma’s absence from the starting XI saw the inclusion of Will Jacks and the debut of left-arm seamer Ashwani Kumar. Vignesh Puthur also earned a spot, likely to be replaced by Sharma during Mumbai’s chase. Pandya justified the decision to bowl first, citing the potential for early swing and the anticipated evening dew. He downplayed Mumbai’s previous two losses, emphasizing the length of the tournament and expressing hope for a turnaround.
Kolkata Knight Riders, meanwhile, welcomed back Sunil Narine to their lineup after his illness-induced absence, replacing Moeen Ali. KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane admitted he would have preferred to bowl first but conceded it was a “good toss to lose,” confident in his team’s bowling capabilities.
The Mumbai Indians’ playing XI featured Ryan Rickelton (wk), Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Ashwani Kumar, and Vignesh Puthur. Rohit Sharma was named as an Impact Substitute, along with Corbin Bosch, Raj Bawa, Robin Minz, and Satyanarayana Raju. The Kolkata Knight Riders fielded Sunil Narine, Quinton de Kock (wk), Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, and Varun Chakravarthy. Their Impact Substitutes were Anrich Nortje, Manish Pandey, Vaibhav Arora, Anukul Roy, and Luvnith Sisodia.
First Piper 