Mumbai: Mumbai Indians fielded four uncapped players in their IPL 2023 opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore, two of whom were playing their first ever match in the tournament. A team in transition, MI as always have invested in young players for the future.
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Coach Mark Boucher has said that it’s time for the youngsters to “show up” as the team looks to bounce back after two consecutive poor seasons.
“The way Mumbai Indians have selected their squads over the last few years has been, how you invest in youngsters for the future. It’s now time for those youngsters to show up and basically get the opportunities,” Boucher was quoted as saying in a press release by Mumbai Indians.
Ahead of the season, Boucher had said, “The IPL is a massive event and it’s going to be a great opportunity for some of our young boys to really show up.”
While MI lost to RCB by eight wickets on Sunday, the positive from the game for them was how the youngsters performed against a strong Bangalore unit.
As Mumbai Indians lost Suryakumar Yadav in the ninth over against RCB, debutant Nehal Wadhera joined a fluent Tilak Varma at the crease. While Varma continued from where he left off last season, Wadhera came into the season on the back of a fine Ranji Trophy campaign for Punjab.
Like Varma, he made an immediate impact, steering his first ball for four. What followed over the next five overs was a masterclass in aggression. Varma and Wadhera put on a 50-run partnership in just 30 balls. Wadhera made an impactful 21 off just 13 balls and injected pace into the innings taken ahead by Arshad Khan (15 not out off 9) using his long handle.
Varma finished on 84 not out off 46.
MI’s bowling coach Shane Bond credited the youngsters for helping MI reach 170. “Tilak played brilliantly, and so did the other youngsters,” he said.
Even captain Rohit Sharma picked Varma out for special praise, saying, “He is a very positive person, quite talented as well. Some of the shots he played today, he showed a lot of courage. We wanted to be courageous enough, and hats off to Tilak for getting us to the total.”
Speaking after his innings, Varma said, “I always back my shots, and I was doing the same thing here. I was asking my partners what could be a good total here and going accordingly.”
Arshad then went on to pick his first ever IPL and T20 wicket too, having Faf du Plessis caught on the boundary and nearly picked up Virat Kohli at the back end of the innings.
MI’s debutants along with their breakout star from last season have given them lots to look forward to the team management and fans for this season.
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