Why is Deepak Chahar not playing the GT vs MI IPL 2025 Eliminator?

It's a do-or-die battle in Mullanpur as Mumbai Indians face Gujarat Titans in the Eliminator. Finishing third and fourth respectively, the IPL 2022 champions set up the GT vs MI IPL 2025 Eliminator against the five-time title winners. Now, all that MI and GT get to stay alive in the trophy race is this tussle on the tricky surface of Mullanpur that downed PBKS against RCB on Thursday. Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians have fielded as many as three changes in their Playing XI for the all-important match as they cope with the exits of overseas players. Moreover, the MI Playing XI has taken another blow as one of their primary seamers, Deepak Chahar, has been dropped due to injury concerns.

Big day. Big game. 👊

Our XI is ready for the all-important clash 📝💥#MumbaiIndians #PlayLikeMumbai pic.twitter.com/6tHoX5ra7o

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) May 30, 2025

Just a day ahead of the GT vs MI IPL 2025 Eliminator, it was reported that the five-time champions had been dealt another blow. With the conclusion of the group stage, MI had to deal with the exits of their top-performing overseas picks, Ryan Rickelton and Will Jacks. Already laden with the task of finding fitting replacements for the foreigners, an injury concern deepened their slump. A video showing the MI squad arriving in Mullanpur for the Eliminator cast a shadow on the fitness of Deepak Chahar and Tilak Varma.

The primary seamer was seen limping, while Varma displayed discomfort in his knee. Now, though Tilak Varma has been named in the MI Playing XI against GT, Chahar has missed out. Winning the toss in Mullanpur, Hardik Pandya opted to bat first against Gujarat Titans in the high-stakes clash. Jonny Bairstow and Richard Gleeson received their maiden call-up in the MI side, while the young Raj Angad Bawa also joined the combination. With Mumbai Indians batting first, Chahar was not listed even in the impact sub list, confirming the injury concerns for the pacer.

MI Playing XI for the IPL 2025 Eliminator

Rohit Sharma, Jonny Bairstow(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Naman Dhir, Raj Bawa, Mitchell Santner, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Richard Gleeson

Impact Subs: Krishnan Shrijith, Raghu Sharma, Robin Minz, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley

GT Playing XI

Shubman Gill(c), Sai Sudharsan, Kusal Mendis(w), Shahrukh Khan, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Gerald Coetzee, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

Impact Subs: Sherfane Rutherford, Anuj Rawat, Mahipal Lomror, Jayant Yadav, Arshad Khan