Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma on Thursday admitted that the side will surely miss the services of pacer Lasith Malinga and said 'it is hard to fill his boots'.
Lasith Malinga has requested unavailability for the season for personal reasons and to be with family back home in Sri Lanka, as per an MI release.
Australian pacer James Pattinson joined the side as Malinga's replacement.
Despite the absence of Malinga, MI has Kiwi pacers Trent Boult, Mitchell McClenaghan, Australia's Nathan Coulter-Nile, and Indian speedster Jasprit Bumrah."It is hard to fill the boots of Malinga, whatever he has done for Sri Lanka and Mumbai Indians, it's remarkable.
He has been a match-winner for us, whenever we found ourselves in a hard situation, he bailed us out.
Unfortunately, he is not part of the team this year, but we have Coulter-Nile, Boult this year and these players will play a crucial role.
What Malinga did is uncomparable," Rohit said while addressing a pre-season virtual press conference with head coach Mahela Jayawardene.
"It is important the guys who take his place come without any baggage.
Here in Mumbai, we make clear for our players as to what is their role.
That is what the culture is at MI," he added.
The 13th edition of the league will start from September 19, with CSK locking horns with Mumbai Indians in the tournament opener.