IPL 2017: Lasith Malinga, Asela Gunaratne To Miss IPL Opener For Mumbai Indians
Apr 1, 2017 at 5:10 PM
The Mumbai Indians fast bowler Lasith Malinga and Asela Gunaratne, the new purchase of franchise will be missing the side’s first game of the Indian Premier league (IPL) season 10.
Both the players will be on national duty in the T20I series against Bangladesh, which concludes on April 6, the day on which Mumbai Indians open its IPL campaign against Rising Pune Supergiant.
Malinga’s absence will hurt Mumbai Indians, as he has been the front-line bowler for the team since he joined the league, and is also the highest wicket-taker in the history of IPL.
The Sri Lankan T20 captain made a comeback to the national squad earlier this year for the T20I series against Australia, after remaining out from international cricket for almost a year.
On the other hand, Asela Gunaratne was purchased by the franchise at his base price 30 Lakhs, despite scoring 37 in 10 balls to win the game for Sri Lanka a day ahead of the auction.
While these two players will miss the opener, there is a good news in the bag for the franchise, as skipper Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Hardik Pandya have been declared fit for the first game of Mumbai Indians, which is a big boost for the two-time IPL champions.
Mumbai Indians Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Gopal, Lendl Simmons, R Vinay Kumar, Parthiv Patel, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nitish Rana, Siddhesh Lad, Jagadeesha Suchith, Hardik Pandya, Jos Buttler, Tim Southee, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Punia, Saurabh Tiwary, Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Johnson, Karn Sharma, Asela Gunaratne, Krishnappa Gowtham, Kulwant Khejroliya.