IPL 2019: Mumbai Indians playing XI without veteran Lasith Malinga

IPL 2019 is finally here. The Chennai Super Kings will face the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opener at Chennai, and there could be no better way to start the cricket carnival. It's a clash between the current Indian captain and a former Indian captain.

Every season, all the IPL teams face various issues like their key players getting injured, or withdrawing from the tournament at the last moment. Unfortunately, that is something which has not changed even in this season.

CSK faced a blow as the young South African star Lungi Ngidi ruled himself out of the IPL due to an injury. Earlier, a similar blow was received by the Kolkata Knight riders too, as Anrich Nortje was out of the IPL due to injury.

When the games are just about to begin, Mumbai Indians veteran Lasith Malinga has ruled himself out of the first six games. As per the requirement from the Sri Lankan board, any player who would like to play the World Cup 2019 should play the domestic ODI tournament, and so the Sri Lankan fast bowler has decided to take part in the same.

However, this might not be a huge blow for the Mumbai Indians as they are have a strong back-up bowling lineup. Here is a look at the Mumbai Indians playing XI without Malinga.

#1 Top order

Rohit Sharma and Evin Lewis

Rohit Sharma has announced that he will open the innings for all the games this season. This is a big welcome move for the team's fans.

The Indian vice-captain has opened for MI in only 19 games across all the previous editions. But he has strong numbers as a T20I opener for the Indian team, and so it's a right call from Mumbai Indians to send him as an opener.

Quinton de Kock, who is set to join the team, will likely be the other opener. The South African opener is coming in on the back of a strong performance against Sri Lanka. These two can give the team a much needed push at the top.

West Indian opener Evin Lewis can be pushed to number three. He did well for Mumbai Indians in the last season.

The top three can make use of the power play overs to give the team an aggressive start.

#2 Middle order and all-rounders

Pandya Brothers

Yuvraj Singh was bought by Mumbai at the last minute in the 2019 auctions. The veteran will be sporting a Mumbai Indians jersey for the first in the IPL.

Everyone knows what the big man can bring to the table with his skills and experience. He might not be in great form, but he has always delivered on the big stage and will be hungry to score truckloads of runs in this season.

Suryakumar Yadav, who opened in the last season and scored over 500 runs, might play at number five. He did well in the middle order too, so this position wouldn't be something new for the right-hander.

Mumbai is blessed with several quality all-rounders, but Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya are almost certain in the playing XI. The Pandya brothers have delivered many times in the past for the franchise, and are likely to repeat the feat again.

There will be a toss-up between two overseas all-rounders - Kieron Pollard and Ben Cutting. If they go with form, then Cutting would be preferred ahead of the Mumbai veteran. The Australian all-rounder is fresh from a blistering BBL season.

#3 Bowlers

Jasprit Bumrah

Mayank Markande will be Mumbai's second spinner along with Krunal Pandya. The leg-spinner did well for them in the last season. He also made his debut for India in 2019. The young spinner can bring variety to Mumbai's bowling department.

The Mumbai Indians have an option to pick from three overseas fast bowlers. To cover the variety aspect, they can go with left-arm seam bowler Mitchell McClenaghan. The New Zealander has played for them in the past, and could fit into the left-arm bowler requirement for the team.

Jasprit Bumrah will be the final player in the playing XI. The rising star has done really well for India in the last one year, and could be a match-winner for Mumbai Indians too. The management should use him wisely, considering the World Cup is just a few months away.

The Mumbai Indians can still field one of the strongest IPL XIs even if they miss the services of Malinga in the first six games.