Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has pointed out the weakness of the Mumbai Indians (MI) lineup ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. He believes the five-time champions lack death bowling despite that Jasprit Bumrah is there.

Looking ahead to IPL 2024, Mumbai Indians will be one of the big favorites to win the tournament. The kind of balance they have apart from the big names and young superstars separates them from other teams in the upcoming 17th edition of the league.

Mumbai Indians will be captained by Hardik Pandya, who is arguably India’s best all-rounder. The top order will be packed with big Indian names Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav, who will miss the first game but are expected to join the team for the second.

Youngster Tilak Varma, hard-hitting Australian batsman Tim David and captain Hardik Pandya will command the middle and lower order. The bowling for them looks decent and Jasprit Bumrah will be back in Mumbai colors after missing out last season due to injury.

Jasprit Bumrah’s return makes Mumbai Indians’ bowling line-up completely different. They also have some foreign names in the ranks: Gerald Coetzee, Luke Wood and Nuwan Untilhara along with last year’s hero Akash Madhwal, who impressed many with his death bowling skills.

Even though Mumbai Indians covered all areas, Sunil Gavaskar highlighted the weakness of the five-time champions. He believes Jasprit Bumrah can restrict runs at the death, but from the other end, runs will leak. Speaking to Star Sports, he explained:

“Death by bowling. Bumrah is there, but maybe messages are leaked from the other side. So I think this is a weakness on the Mumbai Indians side.”

Mumbai Indians will open their IPL 2024 campaign against the Gujarat Titans (GT) on March 24 at the Narendra Modi International Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Sunil Gavaskar picks the player to watch in IPL 2024

Sunil Gavaskar also picked the player to watch in IPL 2024. He believes that Rajasthan Royals (RR) wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel can set the scene on fire in the upcoming edition of the league. The big batsman feels that the young batsman can move up the order. He added:

“Dhruv Jurel can definitely be that person. The way he has batted this year and the way he batted in the IPL last IPL, he can definitely get a promotion up the order.”

Dhruv Jurel impressed many with his batting during the Test series against England. He made his debut for the team in the longest format of the game and made sure to defend the team in difficult situations and help them win the game.

During the last edition of the league, Dhruv Jurel scored 152 runs for RR in the IPL 2023 season at a strike rate of 172.73. He would hope to double his number this time and help Rajasthan Royals win the title.