IPL 2018: Mumbai Indians make 'explosive additions' to their squad

In a recent write up at the official Mumbai Indians website, the media team stated the Mumbai Indians players as explosive. “Explosive additions to the squad,” reads the headline. Mumbai Indians has always played an aggressive brand of cricket, the explosiveness has been highlighted by the players throughout the years. The franchise procured the likes of Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard in their squad. They made a few new additions to the squad, Ishan Kishan, Evin Lewis, Suryakumar Yadav and Ben Cutting.

According to Mumbai Indians owner Nita Ambani, the franchise has always backed youngsters like Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Krunal Pandya. She further added that the team was looking forward to getting a wicketkeeper who can bat at the top of the order. Wicketkeepers who bat at the top of the order are believed to a rare commodity in Indian cricket. This is the reason why franchises are keen on retaining keepers who can bat at the top, the Delhi Daredevils retained Rishabh Pant prior to the auction.

Mahela Jayawardene explained the reason of Kishan’s high price in the auction. The Sri Lankan legend terms players like Kishan as genuine all-rounders. “I think he’s definitely a talent! The other teams were interested in him up to 6.2 crores, which says that he’s a talent for the future”, he said. Jayawardene believes that it is pretty difficult to find a wicketkeeper who bats at the top of the order. The 40-year-old highlighted the need of having young talent in their team, he believes that investing in young players is beneficial since they will be a part of the team for the coming years.

The Explosive Evin Lewis

Mumbai’s focus was on Evin Lewis at this year’s auction. According to the Mumbai Indians coach Mahela Jayawardene, a lot of people wanted Lewis to be a part of the Mumbai Indians squad this year. The former Sri Lankan skipper is excited about having Lewis in MI’s squad. “He’s a young, talented West Indian cricketer who has shown abundance of talent especially against the Indian national team where he scored a couple of hundreds. So, I think we’re very excited to have him. He’ll be a great fit for this franchise”, said Mahela.

Mumbai Indians owner Nita Ambani was also enthusiastic about having the West Indian in their squad. “Well, before I came into the auction I just knew that there was this young cricketer from the Caribbean that we’ve all set our eyes on”, she said. The little information that Nita Ambani had was more than accurate, Lewis can use his exploits against the Indian bowlers. He will enjoy batting at the Wankhede Stadium on the batting wicket. The explosive batsman has scored two centuries against India in T20Is, Lewis will be eager to face Indian bowlers in the Indian Premier League.

Nita Ambani’s son Akash Ambani was the happiest person to have Evin Lewis in the Mumbai Indians lineup. “I am the most excited I can say it openly”! Akash said that all the openers that the franchise has had have been right-handers, “We’ve never had a lefty opener who has been so destructive and I think it’ll be something special for all the Mumbai Indians fans to watch”, he added. Ishan Kishan and Evin Lewis are wonderful additions to the Mumbai Indians squad, both of them have the capability of scoring big runs in T20 cricket. It will be a treat to watch the duo batting together.