Dejected by their worst performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL) history, out of sorts Mumbai Indians (MI) have brought in 33-year-old veteran pacer Dhawal Kulkarni, who may be considered for the remainder of the ongoing cash-rich league if he does well in the training sessions.
According to IPL sources, the right-arm pacer has joined the team's bubble and will start training soon. Kulkarni was part of the commentary team of the official broadcaster before being approached by the five-time champions.
MI's bowling pack has really fired in the IPL 2022 so far as their pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has conceded 229 runs from eight matches and has managed to take just five wickets.
The other pacers have also struggled badly this season. The performances of left-arm pacers Jaydev Unadkat (six wickets and 190 runs conceded from five matches) and Daniel Sams (six wickets and 209 runs conceded from five matches) have been pretty ordinary.
Unadkat was taken to task by legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the game against Chennai Super Kings, when he failed to defend 17 runs.
Pacers Tymal Mills (six wickets and 190 runs conceded from five matches) and Basil Thampi (five wickets and 152 runs conceded from five matches) haven't also put in exceptional performances.
Riley Meredith was also used in two games, but he conceded 65 runs and took just three wickets. A Mumbai Ranji Trophy regular, Kulkarni also has experience of playing the IPL. He has featured in 92 matches and taken 86 wickets after making his debut, way back in 2008.
Kulkarni has mostly played for Rajasthan Royals and he has also played quite a number of games for Mumbai Indians and also for 'Gujarat Lions'.
Mumbai Indians are already out of the race for the play-offs after losing eight games on the trot as they take on Rajasthan Royals on Saturday (April 30).
Mumbai Indians' squad:
Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Kieron Pollard, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Tim David, Jaydev Unadkat, Tymal Mills, Jofra Archer (unavailable & injured), Riley Meredith, Daniel Sams, Fabian Allen, Mayank Markande, Murugan Ashwin, Basil Thampi, Anmolpreet Singh, Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Aryan Juyal (wk), Arjun Tendulkar, Ramandeep Singh, Rahul Buddhi, Hrithik Shokeen, Sanjay Yadav, Arshad Khan, Dhawal Kulkarni.
