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The Mumbai Indians (MI) have faced a body blow as fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah is unlikely to feature in the IPL 2023 season. Mumbai had spent INR 8 crore on England speedster Jofra Archer in the IPL 2022 Mega Auction with the dream of having Bumrah and Archer bowling in tandem in IPL 2023.
But it now feels like the franchise and its fans will need to wait until next year to see this dream come true. Bumrah is arguably one of the best bowlers in the world when fit, and this is certainly a huge loss for the five-time IPL champions.
Luckily for the Mumbai Indians, they have quite a few options in the overseas fast bowling department. They traded in left-arm pacer Jason Behrendorff from Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and also picked up fellow Aussie speedster Jhye Richardson and young sensation Duan Jansen at a bargain.
On that note, here are three reasons why MI should back the idea of playing two overseas pacers this season:
#3 Inexperience in Jasprit Bumrah's absence
MI do not have enough experienced Indian pacers in their ranks who can fill the void in Jasprit Bumrah's absence. The likes of Akash Madhwal and Arshad Khan are yet to make their IPL debuts and could do really well with an experienced head in the bowling attack.
The likes of Behrendorff and Richardson have already played a number of top-level T20 games and can certainly provide a helping hand to these youngsters in crunch situations.
#2 Jofra Archer is just about returning from a long-term injury
Although Jofra Archer is considered one of the most threatening T20 bowlers going around, he returned to competitive cricket in January after more than a year away due to multiple injuries.
Archer has shown that he is still getting there as far as bowling the full throttle is concerned and understandably, his workload will be monitored. This makes the role of the other overseas pacers crucial as they will need to step up whenever Archer becomes a bit erratic in his line and length.
#1 MI have a strong Indian core
One of the main reasons why MI have been able to invest in overseas fast bowlers over the years has been their strong Indian core. Although they finished rock-bottom last season, Mumbai have a settled Indian core that covers their batting as well as the spin department.
The likes of Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Tilak Verma allow MI to play Tim David as a finisher. Now even Cameron Green will come in place of the legendary Kieron Pollard.
With some talented spinners like Hrithik Shokeen and Kumar Kartikeya in their ranks, along with the highly-rated Raghav Goyal, Mumbai Indians could use their remaining two overseas slots in the fast bowling department. This makes it almost straightforward that there will be another overseas pacer alongside Archer.
