IPL: Mumbai Indians to kickstart preparatory camp from Saturday

Two-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Mumbai Indians will begin their preparatory camp for the upcoming 10th edition of the cash-rich cricket league under new head coach and former Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene from Saturday, the franchise confirmed on Friday.

The nine-day preparatory camp led by Rohit Sharma, will continue at the Wankhede Stadium till April 2, after which the team will travel to Pune to start their campaign against Pune Rising Supergiant on April 6.

Jayawardene will be joined by the existing team of support staff including Robin Singh (batting coach), Jonty Rhodes (fielding coach), Shane Bond (bowling coach), Paul Chapman (trainer) and Nitin Patel (physio).

Rohit , who was ruled out of the upcoming Deodhar Trophy after a minor knee injury will attend the camp along with his India teammates Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

The trio will be joined by the team's latest picks in Karn Sharma, Krishnappa Gowtham, Saurabh Tiwary along with the retained players Jagadeesha Suchith, Vinay Kumar, Nitesh Rana, Deepak Punia and Jitesh Sharma.

Nicolas Pooran, the 21-year-old West Indian is the first International player to join the camp while the likes of Mitchell Johnson, Asela Gunarathne, Jos Buttler, Mitchell McClenaghan, Lasith Malinga, Tim Southee, Kieron Pollard and Lendl Simmons will follow in the coming days.

Harbhajan Singh, Parthiv Patel, Ambati Rayudu, Krunal Pandya and Kulwant Khejroliya will join the camp after the Deodhar Trophy, which starts in Visakhapatnam from Saturday.

--IANS

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