Mumbai Indians release Duminy, Mustafizur and 8 others for IPL 2019

IPL 2019: Mumbai Indians have retained 18 players ahead of the Indian Premier League 2019 player auction. The franchise has also released 10 players which include 1 capped, 5 uncapped and 4 international players.

A not so satisfying last season had its bearings on the Mumbai Indians as the three-time champions decided to release as many as 10 players – the most so far by any franchise – for IPL 2019.

The 2017 champions, who failed to qualify for the playoffs after finishing at fifth position with 6 wins from 16 matches, retained 18 payers from their squad.

Among the foreign recruits, South Africa’s JP Duminy and Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman were the notable cricketers released. Duminy was ignored for most of the games in the last season despite being available for the entire duration of the tournament.

Interestingly, Mumbai have retained both Australian fast bowler Jason Beheredorff, who was ruled out of the last season and his replacement New Zealand’s Mitchell McClenaghan.

Kieron Pollard too managed to keep his position despite having his worst season in 2018.

“To maintain the mix of experience and youth, the franchise has retained Kieron Pollard, Ben Cutting, destructive opener Evin Lewis and Kiwi pair of Mitchell McClenaghan and Adam Milne,” Mumbai Indians management said.

“The management has also backed Australia’s T20 specialist Jason Behrendorff after the left-arm quick was recalled to the national side to face the Proteas.”

Mumbai Indians have also released Saurabh Tiwary, Pradeep Sangwan, Sharad Lumba, Tajinder Singh Dhillon. UP pacer Mohsin Khan and Kerala’s MD Nidheesh also find themselves in the released players’ list.

Releasing these many players would obviously mean, Mumbai would once again go into the auction with a sizable amount in their pocket. The auction for IPL 2019 is set to take place in mid-December.

Retained players: Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Mayank Markande, Rahul Chahar, Anukul Roy, Siddhesh Lad, Aditya Tare, Quinton de Kock, Kieron Pollard, Ben Cutting, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Jason Behrendorff.

Released players: Saurabh Tiwary, Pradeep Sangwan, Mohsin Khan, MD Nidheesh, Sharad Lumba, Tajinder Singh Dhillon, JP Duminy, Pat Cummins, Mustafizur Rahman, Akila Dananjaya.