Dominic Thornely and Robin Uthappa
This name may raise a few eyebrows but the fact is Mumbai Indians did not have the services of Sachin Tendulkar for the first few matches. So, they had three foreign batsmen in the top order, the third one being Dominic Thornely. Unfortunately, the Australian T20 star could not make much impact in the match as he got retired hurt after just five balls. Thornely played his last competitive match during BBL 2013 and there is no update on him after that.
Former IPL Orange Cap winner Robin Uthappa started his journey with the Mumbai Indians team in 2008. The Karnataka-based right-handed batsman was the top scorer for Mumbai in the first match. He missed out on his well-deserved half-century by two runs, as he got out for 48 runs caught behind off the bowling of Balachandra Akhil. Uthappa will soon play for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2020.
Pinal Shah and Abhishek Nayar
Another lesser-known batsman to be a part of the first-ever Mumbai Indians playing XI was the Baroda-based wicket-keeper batsman Pinal Shah. The Gujarati player batted at number five and scored 19 runs off 23 balls. Just like Robin Uthappa, Shah lost his wicket to the bowling of Balachandra Akhil and Virat Kohli took his catch. Shah is still 32 and will look to repeat his past performance in the domestic circuit.
Abhishek Nayar was a local player part of the Mumbai Indians team in 2008. His impressive domestic performances helped him in earning a spot in the first-ever playing XI of the Mumbai-based franchise. Nayar scored a 14-ball 20, hitting one four and one six in the innings. He also bowled an over, where he gave away 10 runs. The former Mumbai Indians star has joined the coaching staff of KKR now.
