Not Hardik Pandya; Rohit Sharma Delivers Animated Pep Talk to MI Team Ahead of IPL 2025 Clash vs KKR | WATCH VIDEO

IPL 2025, MI vs KKR: Rohit Sharma , who is not in the playing XI at the toss, delivered an animated pep talk to the members in a huddle before the match. Ahead of the game versus Kolkata, Rohit was also spotted having a close look at the strip that is being used for the game. Rohit has not been in the best of touch with the bat in the ongoing IPL and hence some started to speculate that he may have been dropped. But certainly, that is not the case. 

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While MI are looking for their first win, Kolkata would look to continue the winning momentum. But at the toss, all the discussion was around Rohit as his name was not mentioned at the toss and it was understood that he would be playing probably as the Impact Sub. Here was the much-talked about animated pep talk from Rohit just before the toss. 

WATCH VIDEO

Hardik Pndya won the toss and had no hesitation in opting to bowl first. 

"Knowing Wankhede, dew may or may not come in. There might be some early swing, it plays well so we thought chasing is a good option. We want to get into good rhythm and kickstart. Overall, we want to play better cricket, we need to stay calm. Will Jacks comes back and we have a debutant - Ashwani Kumar," Hardik Pandya said at the toss. 

ALSO READ: Rohit Dropped or Impact Sub? Speculations Rife Over Ex-MI Skipper

At the time of filing the copy, MI were absolutely on top having picked up three crucial Kolkata wickets. After four overs, Kolkata are 33 for four. Ankrish Raghuvanshi and Venkatesh Iyer are in the middle and they would need to get the innings back on track. 

MI vs KKR Teams:

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