Mumbai Indians is the most successful franchise in the history of the IPL as they have won the most titles. They won their first title in 2013 and since then have won five titles in eight years. They defended their title in the last season and become only the second team in the IPL to do so. Mumbai Indians is a franchise that scouts young players and then trains them to become match-winners.
The likes of Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, and Jasprit Bumrah are prime examples of this scouting system. MI has also scouted many other young players through this system, but they had to release them due to various reasons. MI has released a lot of good players so let’s have a look at the strongest XI of released players from Mumbai Indians.
Openers – Dwayne Smith and Robin Uthappa
Dwayne Smith has been a great performer in the IPL. He was part of the Mumbai Indians squad but then they released him and he went to Chennai Super Kings. Smith performed well in both the teams at different positions. MI even had the services of Robin Uthappa for a while.
Smith and Utthapa could form a good opening combination and Robin Uthappa who can also keep wickets can be the wicket-keeper. Both these batsmen like to take on the bowlers and it can work perfectly for any team.
Middle-order – Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey & Glenn Maxwell
Ambati Rayudu was part of the Mumbai Indians for most of his IPL career but he was batting at various positions in that team. He moved to CSK in 2018 and had an unbelievable season. Rayudu is the perfect No.3 for any team as he can play dual roles. Manish Pandey has played for many franchises and one of them was Mumbai Indians.
He is a good middle-order batsman who has done well in the IPL. He likes to bat at No.4 and that’s the perfect position for him. Mumbai Indians had bought Glenn Maxwell in IPL 2013 but then released him ahead of the Mega Auction and he exploded in IPL 2014 with Kings XI Punjab. Maxwell is the perfect No.5 for any T20 team.
All-rounders – Dwayne Bravo & Axar Patel
Dwayne Bravo was a part of the Mumbai Indians for the initial IPL seasons. Bravo was released, and he went to Chennai Super Kings where he has performed exceptionally well. Bravo doesn’t get many opportunities with the bat, but he can demolish the opposition even with the bat on his day.
Bravo sorts out the death overs for any team, and he can play the same role for this team. Axar Patel was part of the MI Squad in 2013 and was released after that season. Patel is a T20 spinner who will keep it tight and build pressure from one end. Lower down the order he can contribute with the bat.
Bowlers – Shreyas Gopal, Mitchell Johnson, Yuzvendra Chahal & Zaheer Khan
Mumbai Indians love left-arm seamers, and so they had the likes of Mitchell Johnson and Zaheer Khan in their team. MI had Johnson in 2013 and then again in 2017 where he played a crucial role in both the Finals. Zaheer Khan was a part of the MI squad in the initial seasons, but later on, played for different franchises.
Chahal was part of the MI squad in 2013 in which he played only one game before going to RCB. Shreyas Gopal and Yuzvendra Chahal can form a great pair of spinners, and it will be a great combination in the middle-overs.
