The Mumbai Indians were happy to splurge a massive amount of INR 17.5 crore on Australian all-rounder Cameron Green in the IPL 2023 auction in December, making Green their most expensive, and the IPL’s second-most expensive player ever.
But if any team knows the importance of an Indian core, it is the five-time IPL winning franchise-Mumbai Indians, who have attained their success in the IPL on the back of a strong Indian core, the lack of which also dented them in IPL 2022, where they finished at the bottom of the points table.
Mumbai Indians Full Squad for IPL 2023:
Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Jofra Archer, Tim David, Mohd Arshad Khan, Ramandeep Singh, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Tristan Stubbs, Kumar Kartikeya, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal, Cameron Green, Jhye Richardson, Piyush Chawla, Duan Jansen, Vishnu Vinod, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Raghav Goyal
So, just for fun, we thought let us see who are the best Indian players in Mumbai Indians’ squad and who can make their XI if no overseas player is allowed.
Here is Mumbai Indians’ best XI consisting only of Indian players:
Openers: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk)
Rohit and Ishan are set as the openers for MI, unless they have Cameron Green opening. Anyway, in this XI comprising only Indians, there is nobody to challenge this opening duo. Both the batters, though, had disappointing seasons last year.
Middle-order: Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma
Tilak Varma was Mumbai’s shining bright light in their glum IPL 2022 season, where Varma, in his debut IPL, was often tasked with bailing the team out of trouble along with Suryakumar Kumar, the pair were terrific. The left-hander scored 397 runs in his debut IPL season and earned huge praise from skipper Rohit Sharma who said the youngster would soon play for India.
Suryakumar was in the form of his life in T20 cricket last year, and has carried it into 2023 in the shortest format.
All-rounders: Ramandeep Singh, Shams Mulani/Vishnu Vinod
Ramandeep Singh made his IPL debut last season, taking 6 wickets in 6 matches and has shown signs to become a good Indian all-rounder as MI seek Hardik’s replacement. He is known to hit the ball long.
Shams Mulani, the left-handed batsman and left-arm orthodox spinner from Maharashtra, comes with good domestic experienced and success, and in IPL 2023, the 25-year-old would want a taste of the IPL too.
Kerala’s power-hitter batsman Vishnu Vinod, who had a strike rate of 135 in the SMAT 2022, is also a lower-order alternative for MI.
Bowlers: Piyush Chawla, Hrithik Shokeen, Kumar Kartikeya, Jasprit Bumrah, Arjun Tendulkar
Veteran leg-spinner and IPL winner Piyush Chawla is back in the MI team. He will also have the unofficial spinning coach role for the two youngsters in the squad – Shokeen and Kartikeya – both of whom made their IPL debuts last season, impressing the management, and both might even start ahead of Chawla in IPL 2023.
Jasprit Bumrah will be once again the spearhead fast bowler for MI, and he will have the likes of Archer, Jhye Richardson and Behrendorff in support this time. However, Mumbai are once again short of quality and experienced Indian pacers with the likes of Arjun Tendulkar and Arshad Khan the best options.
Left-arm pacer Arjun Tendulkar, the son of Sachin Tendulkar who has been with MI for the past two seasons, might finally get to make his IPL debut in IPL 2023.
