Jonny Bairstow joins Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2025 Playoffs; to replace this player

England’s swashbuckling batter Jonny Bairstow landed in India hours after Mumbai Indians qualified for the IPL 2025 playoffs on May 21. Mumbai Indians crushed Delhi Capitals by six wickets in their previous game at the Wankhede Stadium to make it to the playoffs.

As soon as MI’s IPL 2025 playoffs qualification was confirmed, Jonny Bairstow took the flight and arrived in India ahead of the knockouts. The Englishman was signed by the franchise as Will Jacks’ replacement for the playoffs, as the latter left the league due to national commitments.

Jonny Bairstow joins Mumbai Indians after IPL 2025 Playoff qualification

Bairstow has joined the Mumbai Indians at a price of INR 5.25 crore for the IPL 2025 playoffs. Apart from him, another England player, Richard Gleeson, and Sri Lanka's Charith Asalanka have been roped in as temporary replacements for Ryan Rickelton and Corbin Bosch by the franchise.

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Meanwhile, after joining the MI camp and getting his kit, Jonny Bairstow announced his arrival in style. The Englishman shared a selfie on his Instagram story in the MI kit with a caption: “Kit looks top drawer,” and tagged the franchise on Thursday, May 22.

JONNY BAIRSTOW HAS JOINED MI. pic.twitter.com/4pqVnYSitL

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 22, 2025

Jonny Bairstow excited to contribute to MI's campaign

The English batter, who went unsold in the IPL 2025 mega auction last November, hasn’t played for England in any format since June 2024. In this season, Bairstow has been leading Yorkshire in the County Championship. However, he will miss their upcoming match against Nottinghamshire on Friday, as well as the first two games of the T20 Blast, due to IPL 2025.

Bairstow said on Instagram, “These decisions are never straightforward—especially given how much I've enjoyed leading Yorkshire this year. I'm incredibly grateful to the club for understanding and continued support and look forward to getting stuck back in on my return. This is a fantastic opportunity, and I'm excited to contribute to MI's campaign. I can't wait to get started and experience the energy of Mumbai.”

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Jonny Bairstow's IPL journey in numbers

Notably, the 34-year-old star cricketer has so far played 50 matches in the IPL over five seasons. He was part of Sunrisers Hyderabad from 2019 to 2021 and then played for Punjab Kings in 2022 and 2024. Bairstow, who is known for his attacking style and can dominate any bowling attack, has a solid track record in the tournament.

He has so far amassed 1589 runs with the highest score of 114 at an average of 34.54 and a strike rate of 144.45. The right-handed batter has nine fifties to his name in the IPL. The Englishman adds more firepower to MI’s batting lineup for the playoffs.

With more than 5,000 runs in T20 cricket and a strike rate close to 140, Bairstow can completely change the game on his day.

Mumbai Indians eye Top-2 finish in IPL 2025

Well, MI booked the last playoff spot with a big 59-run win over Delhi Capitals at Wankhede on May 21. Suryakumar Yadav starred with an unbeaten 73, while Mitchell Santner and Jasprit Bumrah picked up three wickets each.

This marked MI’s 11th appearance in the IPL playoffs. Now sitting fourth with 16 points, MI still has a chance to finish in the top two, but they will have to beat Punjab Kings on May 26 in their last group match by a big margin and hope for the other results to go their way.