MI’s first-ever playing XI in IPL: Where are they now?

There are a few really surprising names whom you might have never heard of when it comes to the Mumbai Indians in the cash-rich IPL.

Being the most successful team in the history of IPL, they are the five-time title winners. The fortunes of the franchise changed when Rohit Sharma was handed over the captaincy duties. They have had many legendary players in their team like Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Ricky Ponting, Zaheer Khan, Shane Bond, and Mitchell Johnson.

They have an enviable rivalry against Chennai Super Kings. Mumbai Indians have defeated CSK four times in the finals of IPL (2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019). Mumbai Indians are also known for having an unbreakable relationship with nail-biting matches. They have played some very close encounters with different teams in the league.

The icon player for Mumbai Indians in the league was Sachin Tendulkar. Interestingly, Sachin Tendulkar was not a part of the first-ever playing 11 in the IPL. They played their first-ever game on 20th April 2008 at Wankhede Stadium against Royal Challengers Bangalore. MI faced a defeat in their first game by five wickets in the last over.

The first playing 11 of Mumbai Indians was a little different from the current set of players. Let’s try to find out what are they doing now

1. Luke Ronchi (WK)

Luke Ronchi opened the batting for Mumbai Indians in their first game. He played international cricket both for Australia and New Zealand. He made his debut for Australia in ODIs and T20Is in 2008. After 2008 he never got a chance to play for Australia. He decided to move to his birth nation that was New Zealand. He was in the Kiwi squad for the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup.

He scored eight runs in MI’s first game. He played for MI in the first two seasons and after that, he was never picked in the league’s auctions. He announced his retirement from international cricket in June 2017. In April 2019, he was appointed as the wicket-keeping and fielding coach until the completion of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. He is currently looking for coaching opportunities.