IPL 2023: Mumbai Indians release Pollard, Unadkat, Sams, Meredith; retain most of core squad

As per ESPNCricinfo, MI has retained most of its core players like Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Jofra Archer and Jasprit Bumrah. Also, with the future in their mind, the side has retained some exciting young talent like Tilak Verma, hard-hitting Tim David, South African under-19 sensation Dewald Brevis and Tristan Stubbs.

Pollard has announced his retirement from IPL as a player and will extend his association with the franchise as a batting coach.

Ever since he signed with MI in 2010, Pollard has been one of the marquee players of the franchise, having won them many games with his all-round performances. In 189 matches for the side, Pollard has scored 3,412 runs at an average of 28.67, with 16 half-centuries under his belt. He has also taken 69 wickets for the five-time champions.

But the last season with MI was underwhelming for him. In 11 matches, he could score only 144 runs at an average of 14.40, with the highest score of 25. He hit these runs at a poor strike rate of 107.46. Also, he took only four wickets for his side in the tournament.

MI, who had a poor IPL 2022 after they finished last in the points table with four wins in 14 matches and eight points on the board, will be entering the next season with an exciting mix of experience and youth.

They have INR 20.55 crore left in their purse for auction and three overseas player slots as well.

“Locked & loaded for #IPL2023 Presenting our stars for the upcoming season #OneFamily #MumbaiIndians,” tweeted MI.

Mumbai Indians:

Players released: Kieron Pollard, Anmolpreet Singh, Aryan Juyal, Basil Thampi, Daniel Sams, Fabian Allen, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Murugan Ashwin, Rahul Buddhi, Riley Meredith, Sanjay Yadav, Tymal Mills

Players acquired via trades: Jason Behrendorff

Current squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), 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.