Mumbai Indians add five uncapped players

Mumbai Indians Saturday inducted five uncapped players in their squad ahead of the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Apoorva Wankhede, Sujit Nayak, Sushant Marathe and Kuldeep Yadav will don the Mumbai colours for the first time and Rahul Shukla, who had been part of the team in the third IPL, returns to the squad.

Mumbai Indians, the 2011 Champions League winners, have this season strengthened their contingent by bringing in Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik from Kings XI Punjab and off-spinner Pragyan Ojha from Deccan Chargers during the transfer window. They have also added Herschelle Gibbs, Mitchell Johnson, Robin Peterson, Rudra Pratap Singh and Thisara Perera through the IPL-5 auction.

Apoorva had impressed with his batting ability to score big and quick runs and agile fielding. The 19-year-old has performed well in domestic tournaments, including C.K. Nayudu and D.Y. Patil T20 meets.

Sujit Nayak has represented Mumbai in the C.K. Nayudu tournament for three years. Kuldeep Yadav, the youngest of the five at 18, is a left-arm spinner who bowls Chinaman. He came into the limelight after his notable performance in his first U-19 Cooch-Behar season for Uttar Pradesh.