IPL History: 4 players unlucky to play for Mumbai Indians in the IPL

Mumbai Indians are one of the most successful teams in IPL history. They have managed to reach the IPL final four times in the 11 seasons, and they are also the first team to win three IPL trophies - a feat subsequently matched only by the formidable Chennai Super Kings, when they won last year's tournament.

That means whoever among these two teams wins the upcoming season, would get the unequaled top spot in the leaderboard.

Mumbai won their first ever tournament against CSK in the 2013 season, and then in 2015 against same opponents. In the 2017 final, they beat Rising Pune Supergiant by one run to win their third title. Rohit Sharma led them in all these three epic journeys.

Mumbai have been blessed to have many great cricketers over the years, including legends like Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya, who used to open for them in the early days. Then came Rohit Sharma, who has been captaining them since the 2013 season.

Kieron Pollard has been delivering consistent all-round performances for many years. Lasith Malinga meanwhile took care of the death bowling for quite a while.

However, there are some talented players who didn't get opportunities when they were in the Mumbai set-up, mainly due to the presence of so many legends in the team. Here, we take a look at four such unlucky players:

#4 Yuzvendra Chahal

Yuzvendra Chahal

Yuzvendra Chahal is currently India's front-line spinner. He is likely to grab a spot in the World Cup 2019 too. But did you know that he had played for Mumbai Indians from the 2011 season to the 2013 one?

Chahal was not in the limelight during that time. He got to play only four matches in the three seasons he was with the team.

One of the primary reasons for that was that Mumbai already had the veteran Indian off- spinner Harbhajan Singh in the team. It was hard for any captain to choose the new unproven youngster instead of an experienced player like Harbhajan.

Maybe if Chahal had gotten the opportunity earlier, he might have shown his skills and could have become a regular in the set-up for Mumbai. Instead, the leg-spinner moved to Royal Challengers Bangalore, and that's when his career changed.

#3 Glenn Maxwell

Glenn Maxwell played for Mumbai Indians in 2013 Season

Australian middle-order batsman Glenn Maxwell played for Mumbai in the 2013 season, but he managed to play only three games.

During that season, Mumbai had a strong middle order consisting of Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik and Amabati Rayudu. They also had regular all-rounder Kieron Pollard in the set-up. That made it very hard for them to draft Maxwell into the playing XI.

Moreover, Maxwell failed in the three opportunities he got, and managed to score only 36 runs - including a duck.

After that season, he moved to Punjab where he lasted for three seasons. There he got regular opportunities, and he delivered quite a few match-winning performances.

Maxwell has scored over 1000 runs for Punjab, including 10 half centuries. In one season, he got out in the nineties as many as four times, missing a well-deserved century on each occasion.

#2 Dhawal Kulkarni

Dhawal Kulkarni

Dhawal Kulkarni is a prominent Indian fast bowler. He has a great record in domestic cricket, and he played for the Mumbai Indians in the first six seasons. He was also included in the Indian squad for the New Zealand series in 2009, but did not make his debut then.

Though Kulkarni got to play over 30 matches for Mumbai Indians, he was always in and out of the squad. One of the primary reasons for that was that Mumbai had some great fast bowlers in the early days, such as Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, who represented the Indian team at that time.

Moreover, Shaun Pollock also played for them in the opening season. Lasith Malinga, meanwhile, had been a part of the team right from the inaugural season; Malinga is also the leading wicket taker in IPL history.

To break into such a quality bowling line-up, you need to put in a great performance every time. That is not easy by any stretch of the imagination, which Kulkarni found out the hard way.

#1 Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane

Opening batsman Ajinkya Rahane represented Mumbai Indians in the first three seasons. But back then the team had Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya in the opening slot, so Rahane was asked to bat in the middle - which wasn't a comfortable position for him.

Rahane managed to play only 10 games in the first three seasons. He also had a very bad start to his IPL career, as he scored two ducks in his first four innings; he made his first half-century only in the 2009 season, against Bangalore.

The lack of opportunities did not help Rahane showcase his true abilities. The Indian Test vice-captain managed to score just 148 runs in 10 games, including two fifties, for Mumbai Indians.

He later moved to Rajasthan Royals in 2011, and is currently captaining the side. He has scored over 2000 runs for the Jaipur-based team in 80 innings, including 16 half centuries and one century which he made against RCB in the 2012 season.