IPL 2023: 5 MI Players who could be benched throughout the season

After a terrible season in the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), five-time champions Mumbai Indians went shopping and bought the likes of Cameron Green, Jhye Richardson, Piyush Chawla, and Shams Mulani among many others ahead of the new season. Their ever-so-dependable all-rounder Kieron Pollard has announced his retirement from the cash-rich league while the franchise decided to release few quality players like Jaydev Unadkat, Daniel Sams and Fabian Allen among many others.

Thus, the Rohit Sharma-led team have made quite some changes to the squad and is once again looking like a team that can challenge for the title. They have plenty of quality options at the moment and have multiple players who can be absolute game changers. However, not all players will have an opportunity to excel in the league. Since the franchise doesn’t prefer to chop and change its playing XI, a set number of players will be seen donning the Mumbai jersey in the coming season. On the other hand, other players will have to wait for their opportunity. 

5 players who might not get an opportunity to represent MI in 2023

5. Mohammed Arshad Khan

Courtesy of so many quality pacers in the Mumbai Indians setup, 25-year-old Mohammed Arshad Khan is very unlikely to get an opportunity in the playing XI. The cricketer recently featured for Madhya Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he picked up three wickets from as many matches. With the bat, he scored 40 runs but that isn’t convincing enough for an all-rounder.

He was bought by the franchise in the IPL auction 2022 but didn’t get a single chance to prove himself. The all-rounder was, however, retained and more so because the team management decided to release Jaydev Unadkat. Being a left-arm pacer, he can add value and dynamics to the squad but is very unlikely to make his debut.

He will mostly be used to train the Mumbai batters. Skipper Rohit Sharma and many other batters often struggle against left-arm pacers and he can be used to train the cricketers to excel in this department.