MI vs RCB: Why Ashwani Kumar Is Not Playing Today’s IPL 2025 Match?

The 20th match of IPL 2025 is happening today, April 7, between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai Indians are struggling this season with just one win in four matches.

One big surprise for MI fans is that Ashwani Kumar is not part of the playing XI today. He is only named in the Impact Player substitutes list. Many fans were expecting him to play, especially after his strong performances in the last two games.

Why Is Ashwani Kumar Missing from the Playing XI?

Ashwani Kumar had an excellent start to his IPL career. He took four wickets on his debut match for Mumbai Indians. In the next match, he picked up one more wicket. His bowling looked sharp and he impressed everyone.

But today, he is not in the main playing XI. The reason is the return of star bowler Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah is fully fit now and has been added back to the team. Because of this, Ashwani had to sit out of the starting XI.

Bumrah is one of the best bowlers in the world, and his return is very important for MI. But it also means that Ashwani had to make way.

Will Ashwani Play Later as an Impact Player?

Yes, there is still a chance. Ashwani Kumar is named in MI’s Impact Player list. If needed, the team can bring him in during the match. This will depend on the match situation.

Here are the Impact substitutes for both teams:

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Corbin Bosch, Robin Minz, Ashwani Kumar, Raj Bawa

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Rasikh Dar Salam, Suyash Sharma, Swastik Chikara, Jacob Bethell, Swapnil Singh

Playing XIs:

Mumbai Indians: Will Jacks, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Vignesh Puthur

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal