In a surprising move ahead of Match 9 of IPL 2025 between Gujarat Titans (GT) and Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Hardik Pandya returned to the MI playing XI, replacing Vignesh Puthur, the young spinner from Kerala who had impressed with a three-wicket haul in the previous game.
Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to field first, citing pitch uncertainty and dew factor as the key reasons.
Despite high expectations around the 22-year-old Puthur’s inclusion, especially after his standout performance in MI’s season opener, he was dropped from the starting XI as MI welcomed back their skipper Hardik Pandya, who missed the first match due to a ban. Puthur, however, remains available as an Impact Substitute.
Mumbai Indians Playing XI:
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Rohit Sharma
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Ryan Rickelton (wk)
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Suryakumar Yadav
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Tilak Varma
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Hardik Pandya (c)
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Naman Dhir
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Mitchell Santner
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Deepak Chahar
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Trent Boult
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Mujeeb Ur Rahman
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Satyanarayana Raju
Impact Subs: Robin Minz, Ashwani Kumar, Raj Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Will Jacks
Gujarat Titans Playing XI:
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Shubman Gill (c)
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Sai Sudharsan
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Jos Buttler (wk)
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Sherfane Rutherford
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Shahrukh Khan
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Rahul Tewatia
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Rashid Khan
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R. Sai Kishore
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Kagiso Rabada
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Mohammed Siraj
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Prasidh Krishna
Impact Subs: Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Phillips, Ishant Sharma, Anuj Rawat, Washington Sundar
The Titans are going in unchanged, while MI makes one major swap. As the match unfolds, all eyes will be on Hardik’s return to form and leadership—especially in a contest against his former franchise.
