Mumbai Indians

Well, it won’t be an exaggeration to say that Tilak Varma has been one of the most promising young talents to have come up in Indian cricket over the last few years, and IPL 2022 had a massive role to play in that.

Fresh from winning the under-19 World Cup, the southpaw took no time to take the step up and impress in the IPL. His 61 off just 33 balls against Rajasthan Royals, both breath-taking and destructive, was just the initiation of what was to come in the next two seasons in the Blue and Gold.

Now, with two stellar IPL seasons behind him, an India cap, and the experience of captaining Hyderabad to win the 2024 Ranji Trophy Plate division, TV — as we fondly call him — is simply one player worthy of being a gamechanger in the middle order in our upcoming campaign. He’s a true blue MI star, and come IPL 2025, it’s no surprise that he stays retained as one of our five!