Three-times IPL champion Mumbai Indians has suffered a huge setback before the start of IPL 2019. Their Kiwi pacer Adam Milne has decided to pull out of the entire tournament.
The setback came hours after Lasith Malinga made himself unavailable for the first six games. The tournament will begin on March 23 while MI will play their first match on Sunday against Delhi Capitals.
MI had a dismal campaign last year. They started slowly with two wins from the first seven games. In the next half they won four but couldn’t make it to the playoffs as they finished fifth. They wanted to make a good strat this year but it seems they will now struggle to do so.
Reports from ESPNCricinfo suggest that Milne has got a swollen heel. The right-arm pacer was purchased in the auction for INR 75 lakhs. However Milne doesn’t have a good IPL record as he played just five games for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2017.
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Malinga had to pull out to play the domestic 50-over competition. The Sri Lankan selectors have made this tournament mandatory for players to be considered for World Cup selection. Malinga is currently the leading wicket-taker in IPL and is destined to play a key role for Mumbai.
Meanwhile the franchise is considering to bring in Windies speedster Alazarri Joseph as Milne’s replacement. Joseph hasn’t yet played an IPL match so far. Mumbai’s overseas pacers consist of Mitchell McClenaghan, Jason Behrendorff and Ben Cutting. From India they have Jasprit Bumrah, Barinder Sran, and allrounder Hardik Pandya.