Mumbai Indians (MI) are set to travel to the United Kingdom next month on a three-week exposure trip with their uncapped Indian players. This will give promising Indian youngsters like Tilak Varma, Kumar Kartikeya, and many others a chance to train at a state-of-art facilities in England. The tour also consists of 10 T20 matches against the top clubs, which will be beneficial for their preparation for the next season.

MI, five-time champions of the Indian Premier League, managed to win just four matches out of 14 in IPL 2022 and finished in the last position in the group stage table. But now they are looking forward to the next season and preparing themselves with an overseas exposure tour for their youngsters.

“NT Tilak Varma, Kumar Kartikeya, Ramandeep Singh, and Hrithik Shokeen are some of the players who will get exposure to playing against top T20 club sides in trying conditions. Arjun Tendulkar, who is also in UK, and South African youngster Dewald Brevis are also likely to join the touring party,” a source was quoted by NDTV.

This trip doesn’t need permission from BCCI: Source

Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene will be heading this team on their England tour and observe the progress of their uncapped players. Interestingly, no other IPL franchise has ever sent their youngsters on such an overseas tour before. Therefore, it is unclear about the rules and regulations regarding this. But the same source also told that the team is organising this tour for the sole purpose of the player’s development.

“This trip isn’t a commercial one where there will be tickets sold or the match will be broadcast on a particular channel or streamed on some app. Since the trip isn’t a revenue generator, we don’t need to apply for any permission from BCCI. We are only taking those players to the UK who are not associated with any national team activities or have been summoned for any of the BCCI conducted camps or playing in any league,” the source added.

Here is the probable list of players for the UK trip: NT Tilak Varma, Kumar Kartikeya, Hrithik Shokeen, Mayank Markande, Rahul Buddhi, Ramandeep Singh, Anmolpreet Singh, Basil Thampi, Murugan Ashwin, Aryan Juyal, Akash Medhwal, Arshad Khan, Arjun Tendulkar, Dewald Brevis (overseas).

Mumbai Indians bowling coach Shane Bond is mighty impressed with the way Hardik Pandya performed for the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022. The former New Zealand pacer is also confident that the star all-rounder will do a wonderful job for India in this year’s ICC T20 World Cup, which will take place in Australia.

After being released by five-time winners Mumbai Indians, Hardik was roped in by the new franchise Gujarat Titans ahead of the 15th edition of the marquee tournament for a staggering INR 15 crore. He was also appointed as captain and he led GT outstandingly well. As a result, the Titans finished as table-toppers in the league phase and later went on to lift their maiden title.

Hardik Pandya is a pretty cool captain: Shane Bond

“Hardik is a pretty cool captain. He came in the IPL to Mumbai in my first season so we spent a lot of time together. It was probably a foreign role for him to step up as a leader for a different franchise but he did a great job. From my perspective, I miss him. It would have been nice to have in around in our team because he is a quality player. India need him too for the World Cup because he showed what a quality player he is and also what a good leader he is,” said Shane Bond while speaking to Sportskeeda.

Apart from leading  Gujarat Titans, Hardik also had a dream run with both the bat and ball. He scored 487 runs from 15 matches and also took eight wickets with his best performance coming against the Rajasthan Royals in the final where he took 3/17 and completely broke the backbone of the 2008 champions, restricting them to a below-par total of 130/9.

Pandya will next be seen in action during the five-match home T20Is against South Africa starting June 9. This would also mark his return to international cricket after the T20 World Cup 2021 in November last year.

Mumbai Indians had a disappointing season after ages in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise since IPL 2009, finished at the utmost bottom of the points table. Also in their quest of casting the best winning XI, MI utilized 21 different players out of 24 available in IPL 2022.

But despite their strong hustle and bustle, the team gave fewer chances to their promising cricketers. Eventually, as these bunch of players shined brilliantly at the end, Mumbai could have conclusively utilized them even better.

Therefore in this list, let’s check out these 5 individuals that were underutilized by MI.

1. Tim David

Surely, this middle-order behemoth could have played all 14 games for MI. By emerging as their biggest positive in the 2022 season, David had an impressive IPL. From his 8 games, the cricketer scored 186 runs at an average of around 37. More importantly, his strike rate of 216.27 was the highest amongst batters who scored a minimum of 100 runs.

Barring this, Mumbai’s two wins out of four were also possible because of David’s heroics. The 26-year-old, against both GT and DC, played two match-winning cameos. However, after his initial two failures, MI surprisingly benched him for the first half of IPL 2022.

Overall, this powerful batter surely had a profusion to offer in IPL 2022. But unexpectedly, the MI think tank failed to unleash David’s full batting potential. Nevertheless, in IPL 2023, David hopefully will play a prominent role to restore MI’s normal winning services.

2. Mayank Markande

Even Mayank Markande, in IPL 2022, played very limitedly for MI. The leg-spinner was only rewarded with two matches that too at the fag end. In his two appearances, Mayank picked just a single wicket. But the spinner, before IPL 2022, was in red-hot form. In his 5 List A games, the leggie had scalped 11 wickets. In fact, in comparison to M Ashwin, Markande was expected to play as the foremost frontline spinner.

However, initially, the Mumbai franchise exhibited immense faith in M Ashwin’s bowling. The Tamil Nadu leg-spinner had a reasonable time picking 9 wickets in 8 games. More importantly, even when M Ashwin was discarded, MI then moved to youngsters like Hrithik Shokeen and Kumar Karthikeya.

Nevertheless, Markande could have been explored particularly when M Ashwin was benched. Maybe the 24-year-old could have exhibited similar performances as he did in IPL 2018. But startlingly Markande was completely underutilized by the blue and gold army.

3. Ramandeep Singh

In IPL 2022, Ramandeep Singh played five games for MI. As a batting all-rounder, Ramandeep scored 45 runs and scalped 6 wickets in total. Also when Mumbai was disqualified for playoffs, this youngster was given ample opportunities. However, the management still could have used him much better.

As the 24-year-old can also bowl some seam bowling, MI could have explored him during the initial absence of Suryakumar Yadav. Even batting-wise, Ramandeep looks more of a top-five batter and could have played in place of Anmolpreet. However, in the second half of IPL 2022, MI just juggled with this player’s proposition.

Overall, if Ramandeep has a lot to offer as an all-rounder, then MI should have played him at least 8-9 games. Certainly, that kind of prolonged exposure would have also brought a significant improvement in the cricketer’s skills. Nonetheless, the IPL 2023 should reward him with more games in comparison to IPL 2022.

4. Sanjay Yadav

Interestingly, even this uncapped player was expected to play profusely for MI. Before the tournament, many experts also believed that Sanjay will perform Krunal’s role. Also as a hard-hitting batter, Sanjay was assumed to dwell himself in the lower-middle order. However, the IPL 2022 just rewarded the cricketer with a single debut game.

Perhaps in hindsight, MI’s think tank could have optimistically explored a lot about this 27-year-old. The batting all-rounder could have played two-three additional games, especially in place of Hrithik Shokeen. Comprehensively, Hrithik played just five games as a specialist spinner and often never completed his full bowling quota.

Overall, even before joining MI, Sanjay has been part of other teams like KKR and SRH. Hopefully, in IPL 2023, this all-rounder gets immensely rewarded in the MI team.

5. Dewald Brevis

In IPL 2022, MI barely took time to unveil this youngster. In their third game against KKR, Brevis debuted at number three, as the youngster played 7 games for MI in total. Performance-wise, Brevis scored 161 runs at a thrilling strike rate of 142.47.

However, Brevis could have further played more matches in the season. Particularly when the openers were misfiring, Brevis could have replaced either of them at the top. Especially in Ishan’s case, the struggling southpaw could have been swapped because of Brevis’s better strike rate. The 18-year-old also would have made the best use of powerplay.

Also comprehensively, Mumbai’s opening pair had an appalling IPL 2022. Only once did the duo of Ishan and Rohit register a fifty-plus partnership in the season. That’s why maybe this overseas player’s promotion would be an exciting prospect.

Australian all-rounder Daniel Sams stated that the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians has a helpful environment for the growth of cricketers. The 29-year-old played 11 matches for the team in the IPL 2022 and bagged 13 wickets at an economy rate of 8.81. He also lauded the coaching and support staff for keeping things simple and relaxed. Mumbai Indians finished at 10th position on the table in the 2022 season.

The Australian admitted that MI’s IPL 2022 campaign was not up to the expected standards. They finished at the bottom of the table with only four wins in 14 matches. He stressed that his conversations with head coach Mahela Jayawardene and bowling coach Shane Bond helped him regain his form. Although the all-rounder feels that the team did not perform as expected, he is excited about the upcoming season.

We haven’t quite performed the way we’ve wanted: Daniel Sams

“I think this whole Mumbai Indians environment is really helpful for building a person, a cricketer. So it’s been awesome, chatting with MJ (Jayawardene) and Bondy (Bond),” Sams was quoted as saying by NDTV. “I found really helpful, those conversations I had with MJ just about what he did when he was struggling and he just talked about keeping it simple being relaxed,” he added.

“Obviously there were some challenges, some good time around, we (MI) haven’t quite performed the way we’ve wanted to but we are excited with what’s to come next year,” said the MI player further. He believed that some of the members in the squad learned a lot as the season progressed. Sams said that it was not the most ideal season for the team. However, he suggested that it was an important season for everyone to become better players.

Sams said that he was proud of himself for the way he regained his form in crunch moments, adding that the mental aspect of the game was a key factor. “We talk about skills and execution and stuff a lot but I think the one thing that has developed for me is the mental skills. I think this tournament has really helped me to build another,” said Sams.

Five-time champions Mumbai Indians had their worst season in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.The Men in Blue and Gold won only four out of 14 matches and were knocked out of the tournament after languishing right at bottom of the table. It took Rohit Sharma and his men nine games to register their first points of the season.

Meanwhile, MI skipper Rohit Sharma has now opened up about his franchise campaign during IPL 2022 and emphasized the fact that the unity in the team will help MI bounce back next year. It must be noted that MI express pacer Jofra Archer is also expected to join the five-time champions MI in the next edition.

It was an unexpected season but we will make a comeback: Rohit Sharma

“It was an unexpected season but we do want to reflect on the learnings and the positives. It was great to see how the team stuck together and backed each other. Now it’s about how we look at the next season and how we prepare. We managed to end on a high and that was important for us. We are gonna come back stronger,” said Rohit Sharma was quoted by Zee News.

“The unity in the team is a good sign. I didn’t see any of them give up. We stayed together as a family. They were trying their best in training and I am proud of that. The camaraderie in the team has been excellent. We had one goal and everyone was working towards it,” he added.

The skipper also lauded the youngsters who have shown some character throughout the tournament. The likes of Tilak Varma and Dewald Brevis played some impressive knocks for the Men in Blue and Gold. “Some of them are going to be gun players in the future. Them putting their hand up and giving their best was the most pleasing part of the season,” Rohit added.

Mumbai Indians batter Suryakumar Yadav is determined to change his side’s fortunes after a horrendous campaign in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. The five-time champions struggled throughout the season and suffered one emphatic defeat after another. In fact, the Rohit Sharma-led side finished the group stage at the rock bottom of the team standings, winning just four of their 14 games.

Suryakumar, who played a handful of games this season, did make his bat talk but couldn’t get the required support from his teammates. While the dasher missed some initial games due to a finger injury, a forearm injury brought a premature end to his campaign. While Suryakumar is heartbroken with the result, he’s keen to take MI to glory next season.

It’s unfortunate that it can’t happen this year: Suryakumar Yadav

In a video shared by the franchise’s official Instagram page, Suryakumar can be heard saying: “We’ve to lift the sixth (trophy) anyhow. It’s unfortunate that it can’t happen this year. Next year, we have to add one more trophy anyhow.” The video also captured team skipper Rohit Sharma giving a pep talk to youngster Dewald Brevis.

 

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Narrating the conversation, Suryakumar said: “He (Dewald Brevis) is new to the set-up, so he should understand. They are explaining to him what it takes to lift that trophy, which is good.” As of now, the 31-year-old is undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru. Hence, he’ll also miss India’s upcoming five-match T20I series against South Africa, which gets underway on June 9.

Meanwhile, the five-time champions are expected to make some tough calls ahead of the next season. As MI’s last few games in the competition were mere dead rubber, they tried a plethora of young players and gave them the exposure. At the same time, veteran Kieron Pollard was put into benches and many reckon MI might release the former West Indies captain ahead of the next season.

Chennai Super Kings openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway were quite honest about their opinions over how the season panned out and they did not shy away from stating about their dismal performance. One of the major points of CSK’s downfall this year was the lack of opening partnerships at the start of the tournament as Gaikwad could manage just 368 runs in 14 games at an average of 26.28.

Robin Uthappa opened the innings in Conway’s absence for the majority of the first half of the season, and the former scored just 230 runs in the season. Conway arrived late into the mix and he immediately had an impact at the top of the order, however, it was too late for CSK to get their campaign back on track.

CSK have to accept things and move forward: Ruturaj Gaikwad

Ruturaj Gaikwad wasn’t shy to admit that the players failed to play up to the expectations. He, however, was optimistic about coming back strong next year with the support of the huge CSK fan base while his opening partner Conway also noted about the season not going their way. The New Zealander felt that the side failed to perform at their best this year and assured a better response next year.

“Many people would be saying that we did not have luck going our way or we did not have things going our way. I would be very honest and tell them that we did not play to our expectations. But, as I said, we have to accept things and move forward. You (CSK fans) have our backs. We will come out of this year really stronger next year,” told Gaikwad as quoted by News 18.

“We all know it wasn’t quite our year this time. We can accept that and move on. We will bounce back next year. It’s not because of lack of trying or practice, we just didn’t quite play at our best this year. Things will be better next year, for sure,” Conway, told CSK TV.

Mumbai Indians got over the line against Delhi Capitals as the local crowd received a happy send-off by their team at the Wankhede. It was their new acquisition, Tim David, who played a match-defining knock of 34 runs in 11 balls. David revealed after the game that he worked really hard on his shape after struggling in the early part of the tournament.

The Singaporean, who was given an early reprieve, made maximum utilization of the lifeline and dumped Delhi out of the tournament with his blistering knock. The defeat meant Royal Challengers Bangalore remained in fourth place, with Delhi falling two points short of the IPL 2022 playoffs. Needless to mention, RCB fans lavished massive praises on David’s knock, which pretty much sealed the three-time finalists’ place in the playoffs.

“Ishan (Kishan) told me the wicket was getting flatter, it was holding a bit with the slower balls, but I just had to hold my shape and back my game, keep it simple. I got lucky with a couple of baby sixes. It is all about repetition and holding your shape,” said Tim David in the post-match presentation. “Early in the season, I was leaning back on the ball a bit, so I’ve worked really hard on my shape, happy with the result. It’s been a tough season, but we’ve played some good cricket,” he added.

Tim David received a message from the RCB players before the match

Royal Challengers Bangalore’s win against Gujarat Titans meant that they needed Mumbai to topple Delhi to make it to the playoffs. RCB’s Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis made no secret of the fact that they would be rooting for the Mumbai side in the game. The RCB camp was pictured celebrating after Mumbai’s win against DC, as they went through to the playoffs.

The former RCB man himself, David disclosed that he did receive a message from the RCB players in the lead up to the game. “I got a message from Faf this morning – it was a picture of him, Maxi, and Virat all in an MI kit, maybe I’ll get to post that on Instagram later,” said the MI batter.

Delhi Capitals’ defeat against struggling Mumbai Indians meant that Royal Challengers Bangalore sneaked into the IPL 2022 playoffs. The Capitals have no one but themselves to blame as skipper Rishabh Pant opted against a review when Tim David was given not out after seemingly edging the ball to the keeper. Pant’s decision surprised everyone, but what followed wasn’t a surprise to anybody as David clobbered his way to 34 off just 11 balls.

A distraught Rishabh Pant afterwards said he felt that Tim David had nicked the ball but decided against the review as most of his teammates inside the circle did not seem convinced. His decision to not review turned out to be a blunder as the game that was seemingly in their hands slipped away after David’s innings. Ravi Shastri was left bemused by Pant’s decision not to go for the DRS. The former Indian coach said it was common sense to take that review as they had an opportunity to take two quick wickets.

“What does common sense demand? Okay, there’s Rishabh Pant and Shardul Thakur, but what are the others doing there? Common sense demands five overs left, two reviews, Tim David has just come in, you’ve taken a wicket, and you have a great opportunity of taking two wickets quickly. And still, five overs to go. And you have the upper hand, you had to take it,” Shastri said on Star Sports after the match before adding that “it’s a no-brainer.”

“This is a bitter pill to swallow. It’s like a balloon that burst above them. They are going to have sleepless nights over this one because it’s a place for the playoffs that you’ve missed out on,” he added

DC’s crucible is RCB’s paradise

Earlier in the match, Mumbai Indians opted to bowl first after winning the toss. The five-time winners had DC on the ropes at 50 for 4 in 8.4 overs as Jasprit Bumrah (3/25) looked in imperious form. But, Rovman Powell and Rishabh Pant revived their innings with a 75-run stand off 44 balls. Axar Patel added the finishing touch with an unbeaten 19 of ten deliveries.

Chasing a target of 160 runs, MI didn’t have the best of starts as Khaleel Ahmed showcased a fiery opening spell against Rohit Sharma. Rohit’s miserable stay at the crease ended as the Mumbai skipper made just two runs in 13 balls. Ishan Kishan and Dewald Brevis then added 51 runs off 37 balls. Kishan and Brevis were dismissed as MI was reduced to 95/3 in the 15th over.

But, it was the Tim David show after that as he smashed the DC bowlers for four sixes and two boundaries in his 11-ball stay at the crease. David’s blitz ensured MI’s win as Ramandeep Singh saw his team home with five balls to spare.

“They have only themselves to blame, nothing else. No excuses, you can’t hide behind anything, you lost it, more than Mumbai Indians winning it. You didn’t deserve to qualify and RCB does,” Ravi Shastri said after the game. Delhi Capitals’ defeat meant that Royal Challengers Bangalore joined Gujarat Titans, Rajasthan Royals, and Lucknow Super Giants in the playoffs.

Delhi Capitals head coach Ricky Ponting has come out in support of Rishabh Pant following the team’s five-wicket defeat against Mumbai Indians on Saturday (May 21). It was indeed a heartbreaking loss for DC as a win by any margin would have propelled them to the IPL 2022 playoffs. Moreover, MI endured a horrendous campaign this season and were the last-placed team in the points table.

With these many odds in their favour, the Capitals looked favourites to clinch this fixture. However, it wasn’t their day as MI ended their campaign on a high. Meanwhile, DC have no one but themselves to blame as some judgmental and fielding errors cost them the game. Pant had dropped the in-form Dewald Brevis and the young South African did some further damage.

Another big mistake DC committed was not taking a review against Tim David. The dasher had edged the ball to Pant early in his innings but neither the umpire nor the wicketkeeper was able to identify the dismissal. David made the Capitals pay as he smashed an 11-ball 34 to seal the game for his team. Needless to mention, these blunders earned Pant a lot of criticism, and his leadership credentials were also questioned.

Rishabh Pant certainly got my full backing: Ricky Ponting

Ponting, however, reckons the wicketkeeper-batter is the right man to lead the Delhi-based team. “Absolutely, no doubt in my mind that Rishabh even in the last season he was the right choice for captain. Rishabh did a terrific job with the team after he took over from Shreyas (Iyer) after he injured his shoulders,” Ponting said during the press conference after DC lost by five wickets against MI.

“He is just a young man and still learning captaincy. Being captain of a T20 team, especially in IPL, which is a high pressure tournament, is not easy thing to do and unfortunately, every single thing you do will be scrutinised. He certainly got my full backing.”