IPL 2019: 3 players who could replace Malinga in Mumbai's playing XI
Lasith Malinga starred in Mumbai Indians second win of this season's Indian Premier League against Chennai Super Kings. That, however, was his last match for some time as the Sri Lankan Cricket Board has confirmed that he will be returning home to play the Super Provincial One Day tournament; which is supposed to serve as trials for their World Cup team. Earlier, Malinga was cleared to play the IPL but as captain of the national team, Malinga volunteered to play in the tournament.
The loss of Malinga for the upcoming matches will be a huge blow for the Mumbai Indians. He has been a star performer for them this IPL and has lived up to his reputation. He even picked up three wickets in the last match and the team management will find it very hard to replace him. Mumbai have a good bench and with the inclusion of Jason Behrendorff, they would like to replace Malinga with someone who is as accurate and impactful as him. Let us have a look at 3 players who could replace him to play the next match against Sunrisers Hyderabad:
#3. Ben Cutting
One of the finest players of the T20 format, Ben Cutting is a good option to replace Lasith Malinga. He has played one match for Mumbai this season and had a decent outing. The one thing that gives him a little edge over other bowlers while replacing Malinga; is his exploits with this bat. In his last match before the IPL, he scored a stunning 30 ball 81 in the Big Bash League to take Brisbane heats to victory. He can play explosive shots at the top of the order in the powerplay or come down the order and finish the game for his team. In the one match that he played, he picked up the important wicket of Colin Ingram but was extremely expensive. He will be looking to make amends when given a chance again.
Follow Sportskeeda for all the updates on IPL score 2019, purple cap, points table, schedule, news, orange cap and fantasy tips.