IPL 2023: Mumbai Indians youngsters delivering the goods?
IPL 2023: How Mumbai Indians youngsters turning things this season? Tilak Varma, Nehal Wadhera, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya, Arshad Khan and Hritik Shokeen to name a few.
Mumbai Indians broke the bank to get the services of England pace bowler Jofra Archer for INR 8 crore in the 2022 IPL auction although he was unavailable to play that season due to injury. The prospect of Jasprit Bumrah and Archer bowling in tandem was something that Mumbai Indians hoped for in the IPL 2023, expecting these two bowling stars to help them win another title.
But cut to IPL 2023, Bumrah is injured, and an off-colour Archer bagged 2 wickets in 5 games in the ongoing season before getting injured again. Also, buying Archer at a huge sum cost Mumbai hard as they didn’t have much funds available to buy other star players. They have had to put their money on uncapped Indian youngsters who came for as low as INR 20 lakh as their base price.
Youngsters have saved the day for MI
It became a blessing in disguise for Mumbai as the youngsters that the franchise bet on are finally delivering the goods in IPL 2023. Although their performances have not been consistent, they have made impact batting or bowling performances to make critics take note of their talent and hail them as future Indian national prospects.
Let’s take a look at these Indian youngsters who are finally making it count.
Akash Madhwal
Akash Madhwal was brought in as an injury replacement for Suryakumar Yadav in IPL 2022, but he didn’t get a single game that season. In IPL 2023, as Mumbai Indians pace bowling options looked bare, Akash was handed his maiden IPL cap. The youngster had a forgettable debut, going for 37 for no wickets against PBKS.
Madhwal bagged his maiden IPL wicket when he dismissed Devon Conway of CSK. However, he reserved his best for Gujarat Titans where he took 3/31 while opening the bowling. He bowled superb lengths to dismiss GT openers, Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill, and David Miller. His best delivery was the disguised cutter that rapped Miller on the pads and caught him bang in front of the stumps. Madhwal has just four wickets in 5 games, but he has already shown that he has the skills to elongate his stay with Mumbai.
Read More: IPL 2023, MI vs GT: Suryakumar's maiden IPL ton thrash Gujarat and takes Mumbai to 3rd place
Arshad Khan
The left-arm pacer was picked by Mumbai in IPL 2022 auction but he didn’t play a single match that season as he was ruled out due to injury. But an injury to Jasprit Bumrah saw Arshad back in the reckoning for IPL 2023. The first few games he didn’t have much of an impact, but it was the game against Rajasthan Royals that saw him being among the wickets when all other bowlers went for plenty. He took the prize wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer to bag 3/39.
Overall, he has 5 wickets to show in 6 games, but he has definitely grabbed his share of limelight. For the records, he was the highest wicket-taker with 36 wickets in Under-25 CK Nayudu Trophy 2019-20, and also scored 400 runs, including a ton. A possible all-rounder for Mumbai?
Read More: IPL 2023, MI vs RCB: SKY, Wadhera chase down 200 against RCB; MI move to third place in points table
