IPL 2020: 3 players MI might regret letting go of

The Mumbai Indians (MI) enter the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as the firm favourites. Led by the astute Rohit Sharma, they have a squad that is potent in all departments.

In Quinton de Kock and Chris Lynn, MI have firepower at the top of the order, followed by the Indian spine of captain Rohit, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan.

The all-rounders - Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya - follow, and the bowling attack consisting of Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and Rahul Chahar looks well-rounded on paper.

In Lasith Malinga, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Sherfane Rutherford, MI also have able backups in all positions.

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Players MI might regret letting go of ahead of IPL 2020

Retweet if Mayank Markande is your player of the match. #CricketMeriJaan #MI #SRHvMI pic.twitter.com/cRi1p0nKlq

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 12, 2018

However, the 4-time IPL champions might still regret having let these 3 players go.

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#3 Barinder Sran

Sran has 24 IPL games and 6 ODIs under his belt

Barinder Sran was touted to be the player who would end India's wait for a left-arm pacer since the retirement of Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, but he has fallen off the radar in recent years.

After playing only 1 IPL game and 8 first-class games, Sran made his India debut and picked up three wickets against Australia to appear to vindicate the selectors' brave call. But in his next 5 ODIs, he picked up only 4 wickets and was dropped from the side.

Sran hasn't had a great IPL career so far - in 24 games, he has only 18 scalps at an economy rate of 9.4 to his name. However, MI could come to regret their decision to release the 27-year-old simply because they don't have any Indian pacers tried and tested at the IPL level apart from Bumrah and Dhawal Kulkarni.

Sran has played for the Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), and could've been an able backup for MI in the 2020 IPL. Moreover, should Boult be rested in favour of Malinga, he would've added some variety to the attack.

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#2 Alzarri Joseph

Joseph holds the record for the best bowling figures in IPL history

West Indies pacer Alzarri Joseph was brought into the MI fold due to an injury to New Zealand speedster Adam Milne, and wasted no time in making an impression. He registered the best-ever figures in IPL history (6/12) on his debut against SRH, but soon dislocated his shoulder while fielding on the boundary and had to get surgery.

Joseph missed the rest of the IPL season, and things have gone from bad to worse for him since then. The 23-year-old's form for his national side has come under question, as well as his lack of aggression while bowling.

Despite these shortcomings, however, Joseph is still young and is certainly one for the future. He is far quicker than the other overseas options at MI's disposal - Boult, Malinga, Coulter-Nile and McClenaghan. Moreover, he would have been motivated to prove a point to his detractors.

Joseph will also play in the upcoming Caribbean Premier League for the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, and his experience in the T20 tournament would have given him some much-needed match practice before the IPL.

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#1 Mayank Markande

Mayank Markande has been one of the finds of the IPL

The sharp rise of Rahul Chahar might have been the main reason behind MI parting ways with young leg-spinner Mayank Markande, who broke onto the scene with an impressive performance against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in which he bamboozled skipper MS Dhoni.

Although Chahar is an excellent bowler who has become a mainstay in the MI playing XI, the team's trade for Markande, in which they got West Indian all-rounder Sherfane Rutherford in return, doesn't make much sense. Rutherford is behind both Pollard and Pandya in the pecking order, and is not expected to get a game.

Markande, on the other hand, could've been a third spin option for Rohit Sharma in the friendly UAE conditions. Of course, there's no way that the defending champions could have predicted that the venue of the IPL would be shifted. But irrespective of why they made the decision to trade away the 22-year-old, they could come to regret it.

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