IPL: Players who have batted at surprising batting positions

Mitchell McClenaghan - Number 4

Mitchell McClenaghan depositing the ball into the crowd for the Mumbai Indians

In the twelfth match of IPL 2017, the Royal Challengers Bangalore set a modest target of 143 for the Mumbai Indians to chase. Mitchell McClenaghan was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-0-20-2.

In the chase, explosive opener, Jos Buttler, got out cheaply in the second over. The other opener, Parthiv Patel, succumbed to Samuel Badree in the second ball of the third over. One of Nitish Rana, Kieron Pollard, or the Pandya brothers were expected to come in to bat next. However, to everyone's surprise, it was Mitchell McClenaghan who joined Rohit Sharma at the crease!

Whatever the intention of this move might have been, it backfired as McClenaghan got out for a golden duck. Badree then went on to dismiss skipper Rohit Sharma to complete an extraordinary hat-trick.

However, this was the second time that McClenaghan batted at number 4. The first instance was back in April 2016 against the Kolkata Knight Riders. Chasing a daunting target of 188, the Mumbai Indians lost the wicket of Hardik Pandya in the eleventh when the team score was 87.

With skipper Rohit Sharma settled in at one end, McClenaghan was sent in for some pinch hitting to decrease the required run-rate. He didn't disappoint, dispatching three sixes into the ground before losing his wicket to Kuldeep Yadav. His 20 runs in 8 balls were handy in Mumbai's successful run chase, and this 20 remains McClenaghan's highest score in the IPL.