IPL 2019: 5 players Mumbai Indians might release after this season

The Mumbai Indians etched their name into the history books once again as they lifted the IPL trophy for the 4th time by beating the Chennai Super Kings in a cliffhanger of a contest.

Under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, the side finished at the top of the table despite a slow start and they were in great form ahead of the playoffs. In the playoffs, they thrashed the Chennai Super Kings to advance to the final and later clawed their way back into the final to end up winning it in a dramatic fashion.

Their power packed middle order led by Hardik Pandya was the main reason for their success as they always managed to take the team to a respectable total and Jasprit Bumrah's expertise in defending totals would do the rest.

Rahul Chahar, the young leg-spinner impressed the most for the side as he bowled with beautiful control and craft and was always economic with his bowling whether he picked up a wicket or not.

Being the winning side, the Mumbai Indians aren't expected to release a lot of players ahead of the Player Auction for IPL 2020. They also aren't known to release a lot of members of their side and always like to retain their core unit.

However, there have been a couple of underperforming players and some who don't fit into the side and they have to be dropped by the side.

On that note, let's take a look at 5 players who the Mumbai Indians could release ahead of the next season.

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#5 Mayank Markande

Markande wasn't backed by skipper Rohit Sharma. (Image Courtesy: IPLT20)

Mayank Markande was one of the finds of the season for Mumbai Indians in 2018 and the leg-spinner made his international debut a couple of months ago. However, he failed to live up to the expectations and could pick up just 1 wicket from 3 games.

Markande’s spot in the side was taken by a very impressive Rahul Chahar, another talented youngster to emerge from the side. Chahar solidified his position in the side when Markande was ridden with illness for a couple of matches.

Markande was also expensive with the ball in the games which he played in and though it’s highly unlikely for the side to do so, they might succumb to the fact that newer and more younger players are available for selection.

His domestic and List A form too have been on the decline and hence he could be released by the side.

#4 Evin Lewis

Not much of Evin Lewis' big hitting prowess was seen this season. (Image Courtesy: IPLT20)

Evin Lewis was signed by the Mumbai Indians in the 2018 Player Auction for ₹3.8 Crore but the destructive Caribbean southpaw was used very sparingly this season. He was able to score only 48 runs in 3 matches averaging 16.00 and scoring at a sub-par strike-rate of 92.30.

The reason for the uncharacteristic slow strike-rate from Lewis was that he was forced to bat at No.3 and usually came in towards the end of the power play and wasn't able to gain momentum when the field was spread out. With Quinton de Kock performing well and Rohit Sharma refusing to bat lower down the order, Lewis as an opener is clearly surplus to the side whereas a Lewis batting at No.3 isn't effective enough.

With talented Indian players like the consistent Suryakumar Yadav and the budding Ishan Kishan, Lewis is out of place in this Mumbai side and having realized that he doesn't fit in, it won't come as a surprise if they release him to free up some money and an overseas slot.

#3 Ben Cutting

Ben Cutting should have done better this season. (Image Courtesy: IPLT20)

Ben Cutting came into the limelight after his heroics in the 2016 IPL final propelled the Sunrisers Hyderabad to their first IPL title. Cutting is a very handy all-rounder with the ability to go berserk and that was precisely why the Mumbai Indians signed him for ₹2.2 Crore in the 2018 Player Auction and subsequently retained him for this season.

However the Aussie was given only 3 games and rightly so, because he failed to produce a good performance and had to make way for other overseas players. Mumbai's middle order is packed with power hitters like the Pandya brothers and Kieron Pollard and since it was difficult to accommodate him after them, he was sent in to bat at No.3.

The experiment, though was a failure as he could manage to score only 18 runs from 3 innings at a poor strike-rate of 105.88 and with the ball, he picked up just 1 wicket at an economy rate of 13.50.

Though Cutting is a good player, he just doesn't belong in this side and doesn't have a place in the team. Hence, Mumbai are more likely to release him and this will augur well both for the side and for him.

#2 Barinder Sran

Sran was taken apart by the KKR batsmen. (Image Courtesy: IPLT20)

Left-arm quick Barinder Sran was signed by the Mumbai Indians for ₹3.4 Crore after waging a long bidding war against the Chennai Super Kings in the 2019 Player Auction. His performances however were nowhere near the expectations and he is almost sure of being released by the side.

The capped Indian fast bowler came into this season on the back of a poor season with the Kings XI Punjab and had a tendency to give away a lot of runs. He stayed true to his reputation as he went wicketless in both the games he played, leaking runs at an economy rate of 12.75.

The Mumbai Indians don't have another quality Indian pacer to back Jasprit Bumrah and they need to find the right man at least in next year's auction. Barinder Sran didn't add any value to the team and he's likely to be shown the door before the next season.

#1 Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj deserved another chance. (Image Courtesy: IPLT20)

Yuvraj Singh has been one of the most attractive batsmen to ever play for the nation and he has always managed to garner a lot of bids for him at the auction. This season, though, the Mumbai Indians were the only side to bid for him and signed for his base price of ₹1 Crore.

After a rather dour couple of seasons, Yuvi set out to redeem himself and did so with a brilliant knock of 53 in the opener against Delhi Capitals albeit in a losing cause. He showed signs of his old self when he smashed Yuzvendra Chahal for 3 sixes in the very next game but after that, he reverted back to his poor form.

After another couple of failures, he was dropped from the side and never played another game that season. He scored 98 runs from 4 games averaging 24.50 at a decent strike-rate of 130.86. Even when other middle order batsmen were failing, not once did Mumbai consider bringing him back and this shows that the side had lost their patience with him though he deserved another chance.

Due to his age and declining record in the IPL, Mumbai are almost sure to release Yuvraj and this time, it may be even harder for him to find a bidder.