4 overseas cricketers who were under-utilised by Mumbai Indians

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has been a common platform for various unheralded cricketers to showcase their skills. Several cricketers have used the opportunity wisely and have grown on to become stars in the international arena.

Mumbai Indians (MI) are one of the most successful franchises in the Indian Premier League. They became the first team to clinch three titles when they won the 2017 final against Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) by a single run. Many famous players from different parts of the globe have played for the popular franchise.

While some cricketers marked their presence with their magnificent performances on the field few others didn't perform well to expectations. Let us take a look at four prominent overseas cricketers under-utilised by Mumbai Indians.

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#4 Thisara Perera

Thisara Perera is one of the greatest Twenty20 cricketers to emerge from Sri Lanka. A consistent presence in their national squad, the all-rounder has played 71 T20Is for Sri Lanka and scored 920 runs at an outstanding strike-rate of 148.62. He has also grabbed 44 wickets at an economy-rate of 9.01.

In IPL, he is one of the few cricketers to have performed for more than five teams. In 2010, he made his debut with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and was a member of their title-winning squad.

In the 2012 IPL Auction, Thisara was picked up by the MI for $650,000. He only played two matches in that season, scoring just five runs. Since then, he has gone on to represent various other teams with reasonable success.

#3 Mohammad Ashraful

Mohammad Ashraful

One of the greatest cricketers of his country, Mohammad Ashraful represented Bangladesh in 61 Tests, 177 ODIs and 23 T20Is. In 2005, he was recognized for demolishing the Aussie bowlers during an ODI in the tri-series in England.

In the 2007 World Cup, Ashraful was vastly helpful to increase Bangladesh's fortunes when they unexpectedly defeated South Africa and India in the league stage to register their best ever World Cup performance. He is the youngest Bangladeshi cricketer to have scored a century in Test cricket at a tender age of 17.

Ashraful is the first Bangladeshi player to have played in the Indian Premier League wherein Mumbai picked him for $75,000 in the 2009 IPL Auction. He scored only two runs in his debut match for MI.

Ashraful was banned by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) for eight years for his role in the spot-fixing scandal. It has to be said that Mumbai Indians could have given more opportunities for the talented right-hander.

#2 Jacob Oram

Jacob Oram

Most of the cricket fans won't even remember Jacob Oram as a part of the IPL. The all-rounder was the perfect T20 cricketer in the format's early years. He was an aggressive batsmen and was also a handy seamer.

Oram started his Indian Premier League with CSK in 2008. He had a stellar performance after transferring to Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 2011 IPL auction.

In the 2013 auction, he was picked up by Mumbai Indians for $55,000. The all-rounder played only one match for MI in 2013 in which he bowled four overs and scored only 3 runs. Oram lifted the trophy with the franchise in that season of the Indian Premier League. But since then, his IPL career never really touched the elevation that many had envisaged.

#1 Aaron Finch

Aaron Finch

Aaron Finch was signed by Mumbai Indians in 2015. MI was the fifth team in the Australian batsman's IPL career. The franchise had gone for a bidding battle with Delhi Daredevils and succeeded by spending INR 3.20 crores for the opener.

Finch played in only three games for Mumbai Indians before suffering from an injury which restricted his stint in the 2015 IPL. He scored just 23 runs in the three matches and didn't justify his expensive price-tag. Mumbai replaced him with Australian pacer Ben Hilfenhaus for the remainder of the season.

Finch was also released by the Mumbai Indians ahead of the 2016 IPL season. He was purchased by the now-defunct Gujarat Lions (GL) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in 2016 and 2018 respectively.