WATCH: All Well At MI As Hardik Pandya Hugs Rohit Sharma Ahead Of IPL 2024 Opener Vs Gujarat Titans

Seems like ‘All Is Well’ inside the Mumbai Indians camp as the new captain Hardik Pandya was seen sharing a hug with the former skipper Rohit Sharma. To end the rift rumours between the two, Pandya walked up to Rohit during the training session and hugged his MI teammate. Rohit welcomed him with a smile and shared a warm hug. The video is winning hearts on social media.

Mumbai will play their opener of the 2024 IPL season against Pandya’s former team Gujarat Titans with which he won the 2022 title. Shubman Gill will be leading GT this year. (IPL 2024: With Likes Of Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran In Batting Lineup, What Role Will KL Rahul Play? SWOT Analysis Of LSG)

Watch the video here:

Mumbai Indians (MI) on Wednesday named Kwena Maphaka as a replacement for Dilshan Madushanka, who has been ruled out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 due to an injury.

“Maphaka has joined the squad and he has the distinction of being one of the youngest players both domestic and overseas to be a part of the IPL and carrying forward the MI legacy of finding new and exciting talent who are developed into high-performance cricketers,” MI said in an official statement.

South Africa’s 17-year-old Maphaka shot into the limelight at the U19 World Cup earlier this year where he was awarded the Player of the Tournament for picking 21 wickets. The left-armer’s 21 wickets are the most ever by a pace bowler in an edition of the U19 World Cup.

He spearheaded South Africa’s attack as they made the semi-finals in home conditions. The 17-year-old has already represented South Africa A and South Africa Emerging teams. He will share the dressing room with two of the best bowlers in world cricket – Lasith Malinga, Bowling Coach and Jasprit Bumrah putting him on a path of learning, development and building on that knowledge. (WATCH: MS Dhoni’s Joyful Celebration After Hitting DJ Bravo For Six During CSK Training Goes Viral)

“Maphaka already is capable of generating serious pace and has a very mean bouncer who is known to hurry the batters up. He debuted for the South Africa U19 team at 15 and has already played in two U19 World Cups. He is capable of touching speeds of 140kph and his death bowling and yorkers were a standout too at the U19 World Cup earlier this year,” MI further added.

Mumbai Indians have over the years garnered a reputation of finding gems that go on to be international and IPL stars. The five-time champions MI will open their IPL 2024 campaign against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. Mumbai Indians had a successful season in 2023, reaching the knockout stages of the league. However, they were unable to go the distance and claim their sixth title.

The team finished fourth in the rankings but missed the final after being eliminated by Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2.

MI Squad For IPL 2024

Batters: Rohit Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, N. Tilak Varma, Tim David, Vishnu Vinod, Nehal Wadhera, Shivalik Sharma.

All-rounders: Hardik Pandya (C), Anshul Kamboj, Mohammad Nabi, Shams Mulani, Naman Dhir, Romario Shepherd.

Bowlers: Arjun Tendulkar, Jasprit Bumrah, Kumar Kartikeya, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Jason Behrendorff, Gerald Coetzee, Dilshan Madushanka, Shreyas Gopal, Nuwan Thushara.