Suryakumar Yadav will lead Mumbai Indians in their IPL 2025 season opener against Chennai Super Kings at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday, as regular captain Hardik Pandya serves a match ban.
The match is part of IPL 2025’s first double-header, with Sunrisers Hyderabad facing Rajasthan Royals in the afternoon fixture.
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During the pre-match press conference in Chepauk, Suryakumar responded to a question about handling ‘uncapped’ MS Dhoni. Initially confused, he thought the reporter was referring to umpires.
“Has anyone ever been able to control Dhoni in so many years?” quipped Suryakumar with a laugh.
“It’s always an excitement when you come to Chennai and watch him come out of the dressing room, it’s always a good thing. You learnt so many good things from him, and we still do whenever we get an opportunity we have a chat with him. I’m excited to see him again, but I will be leading against him so it will be a good challenge.”
MS Dhoni will play under the “uncapped” category in IPL 2025 following BCCI’s reinstatement of a previous rule. This rule classifies players who haven’t participated in international cricket for over five years as uncapped.
Dhoni’s last international appearance was in the 2019 World Cup semi-final, followed by his retirement announcement a year later.
Hardik Pandya’s absence from the Chennai Super Kings game is due to a one-match ban imposed by BCCI for his team’s third over-rate violation in IPL 2024.
This will be the final instance of an IPL captain facing a ban for over-rate offences, as BCCI has revised the rules to implement a demerit point system from IPL 2025.
“A Level 1 offence will lead to deduction of 25 to 75 percent match fees with demerit points which will be calculated for next three years. Level 2 offence if serious will result in four demerit points.”
“For every four demerit points accumulated, the match referee can impose a penalty, either in the form of a 100 percent fine or additional demerit points. These demerit points could convert into a match ban in the future but for slow overrate there won’t be a match ban.”
Get the latest IPL 2025 updates on Times of India, including match schedules, team squads, and IPL live scores for CSK, MI, RCB, KKR, SRH, LSG, DC, GT, PBKS, and RR. Find out how to watch IPL 2025 in Canada and the USA.
