IPL 2020: Mumbai Indians' strongest possible lineup

Tail Enders

Mumbai's talismanic quickie scalped 19 wickets last season.

Lasith Malinga

There were quite a few fans who were pretty sceptical when Mumbai Indians decided to spend ₹2 crores on Lasith Malinga in last season’s auction, and with good reason.

Initially, the move reeked of being motivated by emotion rather than pure cricketing logic, but what ensued during the season vindicated the Mumbai think-tank’s faith in the legendary Sri Lankan pacer.

Although he proved to be a bit expensive with an economy of 9.76, Malinga continued picking up crucial wickets – he took 16 in total - with the most important one coming in the final against the Chennai Super Kings.

He’s expected to be a part of the bowling furniture this time around as well, and his presence in and around the dressing room and the nets will be hugely beneficial to the rest of the pacers.

Dhawal Kulkarni

One might look at this trade and feel as though Dhawal Kulkarni was brought in to simply make up the numbers in the Indian pace contingent, but a deeper look suggests that this particular move might prove to be a piece of tactical brilliance by the Mumbai Indians.

Lasith Malinga and Jasprit Bumrah are Mumbai’s designated death-over specialists and do not necessarily bowl a lot in the powerplay overs. Kulkarni, on the other hand, is known to be a canny operator with the new ball, and his ability to swing the shiny new Kookaburra early on in the innings makes him a brilliant option for Rohit Sharma.

This, in turn, will enable Malinga and Bumrah to have enough overs in the bank to bowl at the death.

Jasprit Bumrah

This one is an absolute no-brainer – you simply cannot compile any sort of XI for Mumbai Indians or the Indian cricket team without Jasprit Bumrah in it. A discovery of former Mumbai Indians coach John Wright, Bumrah’s rise to the zenith of the cricketing world has been riveting.

Last season too, Bumrah was in his element, chipping in with wickets and pulling the game back in Mumbai’s favour when it seemed like they were losing their grip on a tie.

Toe-crunching yorkers, delectable variations in pace and devastating pace are the key tenets that Bumrah possesses, and there’s no other player in the cricketing world who can implement all of these qualities as efficiently as he does.

The 26-year-old speedster managed to rack up 19 wickets last term at an exceptional economy of 6.63, and given how driven and ambitious Bumrah is, he’ll be keen to better those numbers in 2020.