Rohit Sharma and Johnny Bairstow made Mumbai a fast start.Image Credit Source: PTI
As much as Mumbai Indians started IPL 2025, this team is moving towards the same fantastic end. Mumbai, captained by Hardik Pandya, has made a place in the second qualifier of the tournament. From here, Mumbai is now just two steps away from winning its sixth IPL title. In this, he will have to take the first step on Sunday 1 June, when he will face Punjab Kings. Although the entire team of Mumbai is seen in the best rhythm, but the eyes will be on the player who has become number-1 by playing just one match in this season. The name is Johnny Bairstow.
After the league stage in the 18th season of IPL, Mumbai Indians finished fourth in the points table. He had to face defeat to Punjab Kings in his last match, due to which his hands slipped to stay in the top-2. Now the Mumbai team will land to equalize the account of the same Punjab. How dangerous Mumbai could prove to be in this match, his view was seen in the eliminator, when he defeated Gujarat Titans by 20 runs and made it to another qualifier.
In this victory of Mumbai, while Rohit Sharma and Jaspreet Bumrah looted the most applause, the team’s new opener Johnny Bairstow played a big role. This English batsman, who was included in the Mumbai team for only playoff matches, defeated Gujarat bowlers with a bang in his first match of IPL 2025. Bairstow, playing a fierce innings of 47 runs in just 22 balls, gave his team a start, on which the rest of the batsmen scored a score like 228 runs.
Obviously, after such a demonstration, Punjab Kings will also be in tension with Bairstow. By the way, on the basis of this one innings, Bairstow has become the number one batsman in IPL 2025 on a special front. This is the biggest strike rate in this season. In this case, till a few days ago, young batsman Vaibhav Suryavanshi was leading with 206. Then Urvil Patel finished first with a strike rate of 212.50. Now Bairstow has achieved the number-1 chair in just 22 balls by batting at a strike rate of 213.63.