Along with Richard Gleeson and Charith Asalanka, out-of-favor England batsman Jonny Bairstow joined the Mumbai Indians as a substitute for Will Jacks, Ryan Rickelton, and Corbin Bosch, who will go for national duty.
In Friday’s Eliminator encounter against the Gujarat Titans in New Chandigarh, Bairstow was immediately put into action, opening at the top of the order with Rohit Sharma.
Since he committed to joining the team in the midst of the domestic season back home in England, the Englishman would undoubtedly be hoping to start the match.
As the MI XI’s wicket-keeping option for the rest of the season, Bairstow is probably going to take the position of South African opener Ryan Rickelton.
It’s not as if MI can’t agree on whether or not to play him. Bairstow is a player with IPL experience. On ESPNcricinfo, former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody was cited as stating, “He’s come in with this opportunity in very good form for Yorkshire.”
Bairstow, who last participated in the league three years ago, is gunning for his first IPL game in three years. Even though he was a member of the Punjab Kings team in 2023 and 2024, he didn’t play in any matches. The 35-year-old’s impressive achievements with the Sunrisers Hyderabad from 2019 to 2021 are the main reason for his good IPL record.
Bairstow scored 445 runs for SRH in 10 games during the 2019 season, including two fifties and a century. That season’s strike rate of 157.14 is still his highest in the league’s four iterations. In 39 IPL games, Bairstow has scored 1,291 runs overall, averaging 35.86 and hitting 142.65.
Rohit Sharma, who has had a challenging season, is anticipated to be Bairstow’s partner. The genius of Suryakumar Yadav, who has scored more than 25 runs in each innings and eclipsed Sachin Tendulkar’s record for the most runs for MI in an IPL season, has largely obscured MI’s top-order problems.
In February, Bairstow last participated in a Twenty20 game for the Johannesburg Super Kings. For JSK, the 35-year-old scored 232 runs in 10 innings, including a single half-century in the 2025 tournament.
