Mumbai Indians' Kiwi opener Martin Guptill has been warming the bench off late, but his desperation to be part of the starting line-up hasn't diminished and he is ready to 'fight' for his spot
Mumbai Indians' New Zealand opener Martin Guptill has been warming the bench off late, but his desperation to be in the starting line-up hasn't diminished and he ready to 'fight' for a spot in the starting line-up.
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Guptill, who was picked up by the Mumbai franchise as a replacement for injured Lendl Simmons, has featured in only one IPL match.
The Mumbai Indians, who face-off Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium today in a do-or-die battle, were hard at it in the nets a day prior to match. Even Guptill was there and an image from the training session caught our eye.
He along with his MI teammate Jos Buttler are seen playing a game of football in the picture, but the image seems to "suggest" a lot more. It seems as if Guptill is trying to catch the attention of MI coach Ricky Ponting and saying "Pick me. I am here." But English wicket-keeper Buttler, who has scored 166 runs from 10 matches at an average of 18.44, seems to be blocking his way.
HERE'S THE PICTURE:
Mumbai Indians players Jos Buttler and Martin Guptill during a training session ahead of their IPL T20 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Bengaluru on Tuesday. Pic/PTI
The Kiwi's highly anticipated IPL 9 debut ended almost as quickly as it began with the Black Caps opener being dismised for two by Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Guptill faced just four balls in the Mumbai Indians' score of 142-6 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. To add to his misery, Mumbai lost the game to Hyderabad with more than two overs to spare as David Warner scored an unbeaten 90 off just 59 balls.
Since then Guptill hasn't been able to make the playing XI. But the Black Caps opener, who had a brilliant WT20 campaign, would be rearing to have a second go in the middle to prove his worth to his franchise.
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