Mumbai Indians had a slow start to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season, winning just one match out of their first five fixtures.

However, the five-time champions changed their fortunes around by winning their next six matches and the Hardik Pandya-led side are now favourites to reach the playoffs stage. Before the 18th edition of the T20 tournament got suspended due to the cross-border conflict between India and Pakistan, Mumbai Indians faced a minor blip as they lost a thriller against Gujarat Titans at the Wankhede Stadium.

Mumbai Indians are currently in fourth place in the points table with 14 points from 12 matches.

They have two fixtures left in the league stage: Delhi Capitals (May 21) and Punjab Kings (May 26). Ahead of the IPL 2025 resumption on Saturday, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar hailed Hardik's captaincy in the ongoing season.

Sunil Gavaskar also alluded to the fact that Hardik Pandya has now gotten the Mumbai crowd behind him, which has led to the all-rounder's exceptional leadership performance. Last year, the crowd at the Wankhede Stadium booed Hardik after they did not take kindly to Rohit Sharma's stripping of the captaincy.

However, with Hardik Pandya bowling the final over of the T20 World Cup final against South Africa and helping India break the ICC title drought, the crowd firmly got on the side of the 31-year-old.

Who can forget the visual of the all-rounder walking out of the Mumbai airport with the trophy in his hand?

"What we saw from last year to this year has been the fact that he also got the support of the crowd backing him. Last year, he would have been a little bit unsettled by the fact that the Mumbai crowd and the Mumbai supporters were not really backing him so much. But this year, they are all behind him.

And they are all urging him to go on to win. They have got one game at home on the 21st," said Sunil Gavaskar while replying to a Hindustan Times query during the Star Sports Press Room session.

"And that is where we will see how they come back. And the way they have come back, we are talking about his thinking and we are talking about how his calming influence is. That is because he has not shown any emotions on the field. When there has been a misfield, when there has been a drop catch, he has just turned on his back and he has gone back to his fielding position. A lot of times, when the captain has a little bit of gesticulations, then the fielder also gets a little bit nervous.

But he hasn't done that. And so that's the reason why Mumbai have come back so well. They normally do that. And once again, this year, I am hoping, as a Mumbai Indians fan, that they will continue to go on to win," he added.

CSK need to invest in youngters

Chennai Super Kings, who have won the IPL five times, are out of the playoff contention as the franchise is placed at the bottom of the standings. Quite contrary to their nature, the franchise has brought in several young replacement players, such as Ayush Mhatre and Dewald Brevis.

All of these young guns have performed exceptionally well, and hence, Raina feels the franchise needs to rethink their auction strategy and scout more youngsters.

"This is a good question. Two weeks ago, they were out of the playoffs. If you look at Mhatre's batting. He did very well. But then the players who were playing in the middle overs, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tripathi, and Deepak Hooda, all three were playing together. Brevis and Mhatre have batted in a different style. As soon as these two youngsters came, the belief in the dressing room increased. You are making 200; you are making 210. I think you are absolutely spot on," said Raina while replying to another Hindustan Times query.

"The results of the board exam have just come. But the big result will be three years. When will CSK win the sixth trophy from here? Because it is no longer an eight-team tournament, there are 10 teams. You will have to do proper homework here. You will have to invest in the youngsters. You have to invest in the 14-year-old, 17-year-old. You have to invest in the youngsters who are below 18 years of age. Then you will see the mutual investment increasing," he added.

Midway through the IPL 2025 season, Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled out of the tournament due to a hairline fracture on his elbow, and MS Dhoni was then named as the stand-in captain. Former India captain Gavaskar feels that the results might not have come for CSK, but the franchise has shown a spark ever since the former India wicketkeeper-batter took over the reins.

"He has always been somebody that everybody will look up to. So even if there is a captain on the field, when you know that there has been a captain who has got that record that MSD has, you tend to look at him, how he can help guide you to an improved performance to a better performance. So now that he is actually leading the side with the unfortunate injury to Ruturaj Gaikwad, you have seen that again," said Gavaskar.

"That spark coming in. That spark where he is now. Sometimes as a captain, when you are done with the captaincy, you tend to take a little bit of a backseat. And you don't want to interfere and take away the leadership of the one who is the official captain. But now that he has got the captaincy band again you can see that CSK, they might not be winning, but their performances have just been a little more charged up than what we saw at the start," he added.

'Overseas players care for their teams'

The IPL 2025 season was suspended last week due to the rising tensions between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack. A ceasefire then paved the way for the organisers to announce the resumption date (May 17) for the remainder of the tournament. The final will now be played on June 3. However, with the tournament being pushed back by eight days, several overseas stars won't be there for the playoffs stage.

However, Gavaskar feels all the ten teams are in the same boat and one should laud the overseas stars who have decided to come back as it shows their commitment towards the franchises.

"I think this is a problem for every team. Because you don't know how many of their overseas players are going to come back. Most of the players will be coming back. I think it will only be the Australians and South Africans who are playing in the World Test Championship finals from June 11. They will probably be the ones who will be looking at the playoffs. But I think most of the others will at least come for the end of the league. And it is not going to be easy for all the teams," said Gavaskar.

"It's a big, big concern. But this is an unfortunate situation. What we have to be very grateful for, what we are going to be very thankful for is that everybody who is coming back has shown that they are caring for their franchise. That's the biggest plus. All those who come show that they care for their franchise. Yes, the situation is tough. You've got a family back home to consider," he added.

Catch Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Kolkata Knight Riders resume their race to the playoffs at 7:30 PM tomorrow, as IPL 2025 returns live and exclusively on JioHotstar and Star Sports Network.