Rohit to open with Ishan, Archer to lead bowling attack: A look at Mumbai Indians’ strongest possible XI for IPL 2023

Hardik Pandya’s trophy-laden stint at the Mumbai Indians (MI) came to an end prior to the start of the 2022 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The white-ball maverick parted ways with Rohit Sharma and Co. only to make a grand entry as the leader of the Gujarat Titans (GT) franchise in IPL 2022. The local hero not only passed the captaincy test but the star all-rounder also propelled debutants Gujarat Titans to IPL glory in the 2022 season of the cash-rich league.

While Pandya reached new heights in his IPL career, Rohit’s Mumbai Indians hit rock bottom by finishing 10th in the 10-team tournament last season. Before the start of the new season, legendary West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard announced his retirement from IPL cricket. However, MI rejigged their star-studded squad after the departures of Pandya and Pollard by acquiring the services of Tim David and Cameron Green. David and Green have been tasked to fill the big shoes of Pollard and Pandya at Mumbai Indians.

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Australia’s David was roped in by Mumbai Indians for INR 8.25 crore at the IPL 2022 auction. The record-time winners then decided to break the bank for Green, who joined Mumbai Indians for a whopping sum of INR 17.50 crore at the IPL 2023 auction. All-rounder Green recently smashed his maiden international century against India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The star all-rounder has played 15 One Day Internationals (ODI) and 8 T20Is for Australia.

India’s all-format captain Rohit will lead the batting charge of the Mumbai Paltan at IPL 2023. Besides Indian opener Ishan Kishan and top-ranked T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav, MI’s world-class batting lineup will also feature youngsters Tilak Varma and Dewald Brevis. MI suffered a massive blow ahead of the IPL 2023 as pace ace Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out of the entire season. England pacer Jofra Archer will be leading MI’s pace attack in the IPL 2023.

Pacer Jhye Richardson, who was roped in as a backup bowler, is expected to replace Bumrah in the MI lineup for the upcoming season. Either Jason Behrendorff or Richardson can feature in the MI playing XI. Rohit’s Mumbai Indians will kickstart their IPL 2023 campaign against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the 5th match of the cash-rich league on April 2 (Sunday) at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Mumbai Indians’ strongest possible XI for IPL 2023:

Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David/Dewald Brevis, Cameron Green, Ramandeep Singh, Kumar Kartikeya, Hrithik Shokeen/Shams Mulani, Jofra Archer, Jhye Richardson/Jason Behrendorff.

Mumbai Indians’ squad for IPL 2023: Rohit Sharma (c), 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, Cameron Green, Jhye Richardson, Piyush Chawla, Duan Jansen, Vishnu Vinod, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Raghav Goyal.