5 Selection problems Mumbai Indians might face in IPL 2020

5. Overseas options

One everlasting rule of the IPL is that there could only be a maximum of 4 overseas players in the Playing XI. Most teams fail to find the four best overseas players for their needs, but not Mumbai Indians. Mumbai Indians are blessed with overseas spots and all of them with immense talent and could take away the game from the opposition in no time. The four-time IPL winners have 8 overseas options to choose from and all of them are Ace level players.

Mumbai have four overseas pacers in the squad, Trent Boult, Lasith Malinga, Mitchell McClenaghan, and Nathan Coulter-Nile. With Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya already in the team, Mumbai will pick a maximum of two pacers out of the four. The only dilemma they will face is which option to go for. Trent Boult offers the swing upfront, whereas McClenaghan offers an extra pace. Lasith Malinga offers the death bowling, whereas Coulter-Nile offers line and length and movement off the surface.

Mumbai also have two overseas openers, Chris Lynn and Quinton de Kock, and they might just go with one of them, especially if Rohit is to open the innings. For lower middle order, Mumbai have two hard-hitting all-rounders in Kieron Pollard and Sherfane Rutherford. Both of them are hard-hitting all-rounders, with the difference being Pollard gives more batting stability whereas Sherfane Rutherford gives more bowling stability. To choose four out of eight overseas options, it will be nothing less than a challenge for the men in blue.

Predicted Playing XI for Mumbai Indians

Rohit Sharma (C), Quinton De Kock (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga