Milne quietly replaces Cummins in Mumbai Indians squad

Mumbai Indians will face the Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 17 in their home ground and Milne’s inclusion in the playing XI cannot be ruled out.

Milne’s inclusion in the squad bears special significance as he will have the opportunity to reunite with bowling hero Shane Bond, who is the bowling coach of the Mumbai based franchise.

Milne has played 70 T20s so far and taken 83 wickets with economy rate of 7.77 and he is fourth international fast bowler in the MI squad along with Jaspirt Bumrah, Mustafizur Rahman and Mitchell McClenaghan.

The Australian seamer, Cummins, did not even arrive in India and it was later on confirmed that he has been ruled out of the entire tournament due to an injury.

Milne is the second fast bowler to have joined the Mumbai Indians squad as a replacement after countryman Mitchell McClenaghan replaced another Aussie quick Jason Behrendorff.

Milne made his IPL debut in 2016 with the Royal Challengers Bangalore and went on to play only five matches across two seasons for the franchise.

Take the case of New Zealand fast bowler Adam Milne as an example. The right-arm seamer has not only been called in as a replacement for the injured Pat Cummins but he has also started training with the Mumbai Indians squad – all this without any official announcement from the franchise or BCCI.

However, it is confirmed the Kiwi quick, who can clock over 150 km/h has been signed as Cummins’ replacement as he trained with the squad ahead of their third fixture against the Daredevils on Saturday.

The saga of injuries and replacements are in full swing as the eleventh edition of IPL entered into its second week, making it a regular affair, so much so that neither the franchises nor the IPL have made a point to make any further official announcements about the replacements.