Mumbai Indians have announced Australian pacer James Pattinson as Lasith Malinga’s replacement for IPL 2020.
Mumbai Indians pacer Lasith Malinga will miss the whole season of the Indian Premier League 2020, beginning from September 19 in the UAE. On Wednesday, Mumbai Indians officials confirmed that Malinga will not be available for this entire season due to some personal reasons.
Mumbai Indians have announced Australian pacer James Pattinson as a replacement for Malinga for Indian Premier League 2020. He is currently in Abu Dhabi and will join Mumbai Indians soon.
Lasith Malinga has requested unavailability for the season for personal reasons and to be with family back home in Sri Lanka. James Pattinson will join MI Family currently based in Abu Dhabi this weekend,” Mumbai Indians said in a press release.
Lasith Malinga’s absence will be a huge loss for Rohit Sharma as he was a leading wicket-taker of all time in the history of the tournament. Malinga picked up 16 wickets in 12 matches for Mumbai Indians in IPL last season.
Australian Pacer James Pattinson had gone unsold in the IPL player auction last year. His base price was 1 crore. Pattinson has 47 wickets to his name in 39 T20 matches in his career so far. He has been out of the Australian side for quite a while now. It will be exciting to see him again on the field.
