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Mumbai Indians (MI) signed a relatively unknown Sri Lankan pacer, Nuwan Thushara, for ₹4.8 crore at the IPL 2024 auction on Tuesday (December 19).
Interestingly, Thushara has a bowling action akin to former Sri Lankan and Mumbai Indians pacer Lasith Malinga, who is also the current bowling coach of the franchise.
Malinga was one of the key personnel of the Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians side a few years ago. He has played a crucial role in their title-winning campaigns over the last decade.
Lasith Malinga bid farewell to IPL on a high note in 2019, after MI beat CSK in the final to lift the trophy. The Mumbai franchise have been struggling to find an ideal bowling partner for Jasprit Bumrah ever since.
They have now decided to give a chance to Nuwan Thushara, who seems to have some potential and also a slinging action. At the IPL 2024 auction, KKR and RCB initially showed interest in Thushara but the Mumbai Indians eventually signed him with a successful bid of ₹4.8 crore.
A video clip of Thushara bowling searing yorkers has gone viral online after Mumbai roped him in at the auction.
You can Nuwan Thushara's bowling in the below video:
"A decision like this reinforces that the franchise always comes first" - Eoin Morgan on MI's decision to replace Rohit Sharma as captain with Hardik Pandya
Former England captain Eoin Morgan lauded the Mumbai Indians' think tank for taking the brave call of replacing a successful captain like Rohit Sharma with Hardik Pandya and planning for the future.
Speaking to TOI, Morgan said:
"If you look at the franchise itself, they have had a very forward-thinking, logic-driven and future-proof driven style of strategy for a long time. A decision like this reinforces that the franchise always comes first."
Morgan added:
"You probably see this as being a tough decision that they’ve made hoping that the long-term benefits will see Mumbai Indians lifting another championship in the coming years. So, in a way, you’ve to admire the courage that it takes to make a decision like that because not every team would take that decision."
Do you agree with Eoin Morgan's views above? Let us know in the comments section.
