Top five Mumbai Indians' players to look forward to in the 2020 IPL season

Mumbai Indians has replaced Lasith Malinga with Australia pacer James Pattinson. Check Mumbai Indians schedule, squad and players' salaries here

Mumbai Indians has been regarded as one of the successful franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL), and the team led by Rohit Sharma would be eyeing its fifth IPL title in the 2020 season. Since IPL 2020 has moved out of India due to rising coronavirus cases, a bio-bubble has been created in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to hold the tournament in times of Covid-19 with Abu Dhabi as a home base of Mumbai Indians. The other two venues for IPL 2020 are Dubai and Sharjah.
 
Mumbai Indians players list
 
The Mumbai-based franchise has picked some key players such as Australians Chris Lynn and Nathan Coulter-Nile during IPL 2020 auction, to boost a squad that already has international players like Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya, pacer Jasprit Bumrah and Kieron Pollard. With charismatic captain Rohit Sharma at the top of the batting order, the Mumbai Indians also have South African Quinton de Kock and West Indian Kieron Pollard, who are leading their respective national teams in limited-overs cricket.
 
However, MI’s most experienced and Sri Lanka veteran pacer Lasith Malinga has pulled out of the tournament due to personal reasons. Mumbai Indians has picked Australia pacer James Pattinson for Rs one crore.

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After going through MI’s 25-member squad, Business Standard has picked top five players who can make a major impact during IPL 2020, which is scheduled to start from September 19.

 

In 2019, he scored 405 runs at an average of 28.92 and a strike rate of 128.57, including two half-centuries. Photo: PTI

Rohit Sharma, Captain

• National role: Top order batsman, vice-captain of India cricket team (limited overs)
• Batting style: Right handed batsman

Rohit Sharma has won four IPL title as captain for Mumbai Indians in the 12 editions of the marquee event. Rohit Sharma started his IPL career with now dissolved Deccan Chargers in 2009 but came to limelight after he was bagged by Mumbai Indians in 2011. In 2013, the Akash Ambani-owned franchise handed him the captaincy of MI, which already had the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting in its ranks, and led the team to the title.
 
The IPL gave Sharma’s international career a big jump as he was asked to open for India after a successful stint as an opener for MI. In the last two IPL seasons, though his form dipped a bit, his captaincy was at its best.

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In 2019, he has scored 405 runs at an average of 28.92 with a strike rate of 128.57, including two half-centuries. However, given his recent form in international cricket, both Tests and limited-overs, fans would be expecting some big runs from him in IPL 2020. 

 In 2019, he played some brilliant match-winning knocks and scored 402 runs at an average of 44.66 with a whopping strike rate of 191.42 and 91 as his highest individual score.

Hardik Pandya, all-rounder 

• National role: Lower down batsman
• Batting style: Right handed batsman
• Bowling style: Right arm medium fast 

Hardik Pandya is regarded as one the most destructive batsmen in modern cricket. He has played many match-winning cameos for Mumbai Indians in his five-year IPL career. He has been an integral part of MI and scored 1,068 runs in 66 matches at an average of 28.46, with a strike rate of 154.78, including three fifties. In 2019, he played some brilliant match-winning knocks and scored 402 runs at an average of 44.66 with a whopping strike rate of 191.42 and 91 as his highest individual score. Though, he has been  out of international cricket since September, the coronavirus-enforced break allowed the player to regain complete fitness.

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Chris Lynn
 
Batting style: Opener, right handed batsman
 
Chris Lynn has been in IPL fold since 2011 though he got the much-needed recognition after he was bagged by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2014 and the same year his franchise won the title. However, ahead of IPL 2020 auctions, he was released by KKR and later bought by Mumbai Indians for Rs 2 crore.
 
So far Lynn has played 41 matches in IPL and has accumulated 1,280 runs at an average of 33.68 with a strike rate of 140.65 and highest individual score of unbeaten 93. In 2019 IPL, he scored 405 runs in 13 matches at an average of 31.15 with a strike rate of 139.65. In the IPL 2020, he will open the innings for MI and given his recent form, fans can expect some fireworks from him up the order. In the T10 league, he blasted unbeaten 91 off 30 balls.
 

The economy of 6.88 and 6.63 in IPL 2018 and IPL 2019 respectively showed his amazing consistency on line and length. File photo: PTI

Jasprit Bumrah 

• National role: Bowler
• Bowling style: Right arm medium fast 

Jasprit Bumrah is regarded as one of the most successful bowlers in T20 cricket. He was nurtured by Sri Lanka’s veteran fast bowler Lasith Malinga during his IPL stint for Mumbai Indians. He has a lethal yorker and slower delivery in his armoury which are also his wicket-taking deliveries.

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He has represented Mumbai Indians since his debut in IPL in 2013. Overall, in 77 matches he has taken 82 wickets at an average of 26.59. The economy of 6.88 and 6.63 in IPL 2018 and IPL 2019 respectively showed his amazing consistency on line and length.

 
Kieron Pollard, All-rounder

• National role: Captain, West Indies in limited-overs.
• Batting style: Middle order, right handed batsman
• Bowling style: Right-arm medium 

Kieron Pollard has been an integral part in Mumbai Indians’ scheme of things and in absence of Rohit, he was appointed as a stand-in captain last season. Pollard, particularly known for his fireworks with the bat, has also chipped in with crucial wickets during his IPL career with MI.
 
Pollard has played 148 IPL matches so far and has scored a total of 2,755 runs at an average of 28.69 and a strike rate of 146.77. He has scored 14 half-centuries with a best score of 83 runs. The right-arm bowler has picked 56 wickets at an average of 31.60 and a strike rate of 8.85. His best bowling figure is 4/44.

Here is the full the squad of Mumbai Indians:

Player	Team	Retained/bought/traded	Price (Rs cr)
Aditya Tare	MI	Retained	0.20
Anmolpreet Singh	MI	Retained	0.80
Anukul Roy	MI	Retained	0.20
Chris Lynn	MI	Bought	2.00
Dhawal Kulkarni	MI	Traded in	0.75
Digvijay Deshmukh (uncapped)	MI	Bought	0.20
Hardik Pandya	MI	Retained	11.00
Ishan Kishan	MI	Retained	6.20
Jasprit Bumrah	MI	Retained	7.00
Jayant Yadav	MI	Retained	0.50
Kieron Pollard	MI	Retained	5.40
Krunal Pandya	MI	Retained	8.80
James Pattinson	MI	Replaced Malinga	1.00
Mitchell McClenaghan	MI	Retained	1.00
Mohsin Khan (uncapped)	MI	Bought	0.20
Nathan Coulter-Nile	MI	Bought	8.00
Prince Balwant Rai Singh (uncapped)	MI	Bought	0.20
Quinton de Kock	MI	Retained	2.80
Rahul Chahar	MI	Retained	1.90
Rohit Sharma	MI	Retained	15.00
Saurabh Tiwary	MI	Bought	0.50
Sherfane Rutherford	MI	Traded in	2.00
Suryakumar Yadav	MI	Retained	3.20
Trent Boult	MI	Traded in	3.20

Check MI’s new IPL 2020 full schedule here:

MI FULL SCHEDULE FOR IPL 2020
DATE	DAY	Matches	IST	UAE	VENUE
19-Sep-20	SAT	MI vs CSK	7:30PM	6:00PM	ABU DHABI
23-Sep-20	WED	KKR vs MI	7:30PM	6:00PM	ABU DHABI
28-Sep-20	MON	RCB vs MI	7:30PM	6:00PM	DUBAI
1-Oct-20	THU	KXIP vs MI	7:30PM	6:00PM	ABU DHABI
4-Oct-20	SUN	MI vs SRH	3:30PM	2:00PM	SHARJAH
6-Oct-20	TUE	MI vs RR	7:30PM	6:00PM	ABU DHABI
11-Oct-20	SUN	MI vs DC	7:30PM	6:00PM	ABU DHABI
16-Oct-20	FRI	MI vs KKR	7:30PM	6:00PM	ABU DHABI
18-Oct-20	SUN	MI vs KXIP	7:30PM	6:00PM	DUBAI
23-Oct-20	FRI	CSK vs MI	7:30PM	6:00PM	SHARJAH
25-Oct-20	SUN	RR vs MI	7:30PM	6:00PM	ABU DHABI
28-Oct-20	WED	MI vs RCB	7:30PM	6:00PM	ABU DHABI
31-Oct-20	SAT	DC vs MI	3:30PM	2:00PM	DUBAI
3-Nov-20	TUE	SRH vs MI	7:30PM	6:00PM	SHARJAH