MI organize exposure trip to UK for uncapped players; Dewald Brevis, Arjun Tendulkar likely to join: Report

After a horrific 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) where they finished last in the table for the first time in their history, Mumbai Indians (MI) look determined to bounce back strongly and have already started preparations for the 2023 season.

According to a report by the Press Trust of India, MI will begin their road to redemption with a specially organised three-week exposure trip the United Kingdom (UK). This tour will see the franchise's uncapped players travel to UK and play upto ten matches against club sides in the country.

MI's star uncapped player such as Tilak Varma, Kumar Kartikeya, Ramandeep Singh, and Hrithik Shooken; who played a big role for the franchise in the 2022 edition are expected to be part of the trip. The 2022 U-19 World Cup's Man of the tournament Dewald Brevis and Arjun Tendulkar, who is already in the UK are set to join the camp too.

"The ones who need to be monitored are our younger crop of players as they won't be having any match practice for three and half months before the next domestic season starts. So effectively, we can't call it a pre-season trip as IPL is still nine months away. But it is trying to monitor the progress of our core group of youngsters going forward," an IPL insider told PTI.

Only players who are not involved with any national team duty or called up the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Even any player involved in any league the like the ongoing Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) won't be part of the tour organised by MI.

"This trip isn't a commercial one where there will be tickets sold or the match will be broadcast on a particular channel or streamed on some app. Since the trip isn't a revenue generator, we don't need to apply for any permission from BCCI," the IPL insider added.

After creating an unwanted record by losing their first eight games of the season, MI ended their season with a tally of just four wins and eight points.