Mumbai Indians have achieved immense success in recent times with a core comprising of homegrown players. Jasprit Bumrah had not played a single first-class fixture when Mumbai Indians handed him a debut in IPL 2013. Similarly, the Pandya brothers and Rahul Chahar got the much-needed backing from the MI management despite little experience to show for. In the 2021 season too, Mumbai Indians could hand out a few debuts. In this article, we will look at five possible players who could make their debut for Mumbai Indians,
#5 Anmolpreet Singh
Anmolpreet has been part of the Mumbai Indians setup for the past two seasons but he is yet to get a game in IPL. He gained national attention after scoring over 700 runs in Ranji Trophy as a teenager.
In his List-A career, he has performed consistently and has been part of India A and India C squads in the Duleep Trophy. He usually bats at number 3 or number 4, and he could replace Suryakumar Yadav or Ishan Kishan if Mumbai decides to give them a rest.
#4 Jimmy Neesham
After being in and out of the Black Caps squad for so long, Neesham finally seems to have cemented his position with consistent performances. After the lockdown, he has played two crucial innings for New Zealand in T-20 format with the bat.
The first one was a 24 ball 48* against West Indies which sealed the chase. Against Australia, he came in at number 4 and scored 45* off just 16 balls, thus taking New Zealand past the 200 marks. His death bowling is still a work in progress but Mumbai have Bumrah and Boult precisely for that purpose. Hence, he could play in the absence of either Hardik Pandya or Pollard and his fielding skills add another dimension to his repertoire.
#3 Piyush Chawla
Chawla had a forgettable IPL for CSK in 2020 but he can add a lot of experience to MI’s young spin attack. Chawla has been one of IPL’s most reliable spinners over the years and he has more than 150 wickets to his name.
Mumbai will be playing five matches in Chepauk, a pitch that traditionally favours spinners. Thus, he could feature in a three-man spin attack along with Krunal Pandya and Rahul Chahar. He has also played a few cameos with the bat and his batting ability could come in handy in case of a collapse.
#2 Adam Milne
Milne was regarded by many as the next “Shane Bond” when he made his international debut for New Zealand. Milne’s career has progressed in an eerily similar manner to Bond as a host of injuries have hampered his progress.
He seems to be fully fit after a long time and will be itching to perform well for Mumbai and claim a place in the national team. In T-20 international games, he has 27 wickets at an economy of 5.26. His express pace could gain him an advantage over the experienced Nathan Coulter-Nile for the fourth overseas player slot.
#1 Chris Lynn
The explosive Aussie opener was picked at his base price by Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2020. Quinton de Kock’s solid run of form meant that Lynn could not feature even in a single game. But de Kock is expected to miss the opening fixture due to international duty and thus Lynn could fit in as a natural replacement.
Lynn has more than 1000 IPL runs to his name at a healthy strike rate of 140.66. He scored 405 runs in 2019 and did show that he can bat according to the situation.
