By Five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will launch their title bid for a record-extending 6th trophy without pace ace Jasprit Bumrah this season. The record-time winners are set to miss the services of pacer Bimrah for the entire edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Even though Mumbai Indians will be without speedster Bumrah, legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar still believes that Rohit Sharma and Co. are strong contenders to lift the famous trophy in the IPL 2023.
Rectifying the stress reaction in the lower back, Bumrah was undergoing rehabilitation for quite some time. The Indian pacer has undergone surgery in New Zealand ahead of the IPL 2023. In the absence of speedster Bumrah, England superstar Jofra Archer is expected to lead the pace attack of the Mumbai Indians in the upcoming edition of the cash-rich league.
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Sharing his views about Mumbai’s title bid in the IPL 2023, batting legend Gavaskar observed that Rohit’s Mumbai Paltan has a point to prove in the 2023 edition of the cash-rich league. One of the greatest batters in the history of the game, former Indian skipper Gavaskar also backed Rohit’s Mumbai Indians to secure their berth in the IPL 2023 playoffs.
“They have to forget what happened last season and got to believe that they have the team to do it again. They will miss Jasprit Bumrah. But they have got a team that can win the championship once again. I see them in the top three definitely, because they have a point to prove after last year’s performance,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.
Mumbai Indians had hit rock bottom in the league stage of the IPL last season. Rohit and Co. finished 10th in the 10-team tournament. The Men In Blue only managed to register four wins from 14 league matches last season. Mumbai Indians had released Kieron Pollard, Daniel Sams, Fabian Allen, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, and Riley Meredith ahead of the IPL 2023 auction.
The Mumbai-based franchise traded in Australia’s Jason Behrendorff from Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) ahead of the new season. Strengthening their squad in the build-up to IPL 2023, Mumbai Indians acquired the services of Cameron Green (INR 17.5 crore), Jhye Richardson (INR 1.5 crore), Piyush Chawla (INR 50 lakh), Duan Jansen (INR 20 lakh), Vishnu Vinod (INR 20 lakh), Shams Mulani (INR 20 lakh), Nehal Wadhera (INR 20 lakh), and Raghav Goyal (INR 20 lakh) at the auction.
Mumbai Indians’ squad for IPL 2023:
Rohit Sharma (c), Tim David, Ramandeep Singh, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Jofra Archer, Jasprit Bumrah, Arjun Tendulkar, Arshad Khan, Kumar Kartikeya, Hrithik Shokeen, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal, Cameron Green, Jhye Richardson, Piyush Chawla, Duan Jansen, Vishnu Vinod, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Raghav Goyal.
