Mumbai Indians All-Time XI
We at Sportzian bring you a series of articles where we pick our choice of all-time XI of the current IPL Teams. Now, before you jump right into the article, let's do an exercise, close your eyes and pick your best XI for the Mumbai team. Now read on! The 2-time Champions League champion and 4-time IPL champion Mumbai Indians are inarguably the best teams in the tournament. When we decided to pick our top 11 players for the franchise we did not hesitate much and was unanimous. Photo credit Manjunath Kiran/AFP via Getty Images 1) Sachin Tendulkar First up is the local lad and Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar! We will be committing a cardinal sin if we didn’t pick him as our number uno choice! He scored a total of 2334 runs in 78 innings at an impressive average of 34.84 which included 13 half-centuries and 1 century. And a strike rate of 119.82 and can you imagine he has done most of this in his late 30’s! And not to forget that Sachin Tendulkar is the only orange cap holder from MI. Need we say more? 2) Lendl Simmons Opening alongside the great man is Lendl Simmons. He scored a total of 1079 runs at an average of 39.96 and a strike rate of 126. He was the mainstay for almost 3 seasons. He was a batsman who can act according to the situation. He can build an innings and if required could score you some quick runs 3)Rohit Sharma Next comes our very own Borivalli ka don, ROOOOHittt Sharma! Well, you can't miss out on a player who has 5 IPL trophies and also who stands at number 3 in all-time highest run scorers of IPL. Need we say more? And yeah he will be leading this team! 4) Ambati Rayadu(WK) Coming at 2 down is Ambati Rayadu and he will also keep the wickets for this team. Rayadu has been a true warrior for this MI, he batted wherever the team asked him to and also was an occasional wicket-keeper for them. We have had Parthiv Patel too in our mind but, Rayadu had better average and longevity with the team. Also, we will have the option to tweak batting order if required which will not be the case with Parthiv. 5) Kieron Pollard Now walks in the one the big man from Trinidad and Tobago…Kieron Pollard. The 6’5’’ Caribbean has the knack of shifting gears and stealing games from opponents. He hit a total of 2755 runs at a whopping strike rate of 146.8. And on his day or not he will take the bowlers to the cleaners! 6) Hardik Pandya At no. 6 walks in Pollard Jr and our very own Baroda bomber Hardik Pandya! HP has turned into a fine allrounder during his stay at MI. He also can change the equation of the game with both bat and ball! 7)Krunal Pandya This one was a tough one to choose we were undecided between SuryaKumar Yadav who has been spectacular and showed no signs of slowing down and Krunal Pandya who has been a very consistent player. We choose the latter, KP gives you that extra bowling option and he can also pack a punch! 8) Harbhajan Singh Next up is The Turbinator. Harbhajan Singh with his impeccable records has to make this all-time team. He even led MI to their first-ever T20 Title (Champions league 2011). His expertise and experience will come handy for this team. 9) McClenaghn This position was the toughest pick, both the Mitchell’s i.e Johnson and McClenaghn equally deserve this spot. Considering their stats the kiwi edges out the Aussie! McClenaghan had better strike rate over Johnson and need a wicket-taking bowler and this spot. 10) Jasprit Bumrah No points for guessing the next 2 slots. We have the apprentice at no.10. Jasprit Bumrah has been a revelation since he burst on to the IPL stage. He will lead this pace attack. 11) Lasith Malinga Master follows the apprentice! We have Lasith Malinga at No.11, The only player from MI to ever win a purple cap! Need we say more? What do you think of the all-time 11 of MI. Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments section! About the Author The post is written by Himanth. He is an alum of IIMV ,a potter head, considers cricket his religion and sachin his god.