Indian T20 League 2022: Predicting first-choice overseas players of Mumbai

The next season of the Indian T20 League is three weeks away as it will start on March 26. Just like most teams, five-time winners Mumbai has gone through a change in their squad. Last November, they had retained their longest-serving skipper Rohit Sharma. Alongside Sharma, the Men In Blue and Gold had retained their vice-captain Kieron Pollard, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah.

Last month, during the two-day mega auction, Mumbai bought back the likes of wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan and Arjun Tendulkar. This year, they had added the likes of Dewald Brevis, Jofra Archer, Daniel Sams, Tymal Mills, Tim David, Riley Meredith, and Fabian Allen. However, with all these players being from overseas, they might feature in the starting XI as only four foreigners are allowed in the XI.

In this listicle, we will discuss the four overseas players who might feature in the playing XI.

1. Kieron Pollard

It is hard not to include someone like Kieron Pollard in the Mumbai team. Since his association with the franchise, the right-hander has played 178 games and has amassed 3268 runs averaging 29.98, and striking at 149.77 batting mostly in the lower middle-order. Not to forget he is the vice-captain of the side and who was part of ITL winning teams in 2013, 2015, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020.

2. Tim David

The Singapore-born player was bought by Mumbai in the accelerated round of auction, where teams were buying players at a cheaper price. David entered in the auction with a base price of INR 40 lakhs but went for a whopping INR 8.25 crore.

The right-hander is expected to play the role which was previously played by Hardik Pandya. The 25-year-old David has a strike-rate of 158.5 in international T20Is and played with a strike-rate of almost 200 in the recently concluded Pakistan Super League.

3. Daniel Sams

The Australian all-rounder might have a low profile in the ITL but is big name Australia. In his T20 Leagues career, he has 87 scalps to his name in 74 T20s as a left-arm pacer. H can also bash the ball as he carries the strike-rate of 189.5 in the seven international T20I he has played.

4. Tymal Mills

The left-arm pacer from England is making a comeback in the ITL after five years. In 2107, he was bought by Bangalore but didn't get enough chances to play. However, his performances over the years and in the T20 World Cup last year has made the team interested in his services. Also, he is a left-arm pacer, which is rare commodity and a slog overs specialist.