India vice-captain and Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma has revealed the reason for Mumbai signing Bangladeshi pacer Mustafizur Rahman for the 2018 Indian Premier League. According to the Indian opener, the left-handed pacer is someone who brings variety to the team.

This is Mustafizur’s third season in the Indian Premier League and his first as a Mumbai Indians player. In his last two seasons, he played for Sunrisers Hyderabad and took 17 wickets in 17 games at an economy rate of 7.15, which is quite good for the shortest format of the game.

His performances in the 2016 edition of the IPL helped the Sunrisers Hyderabad lift the trophy for the first time in their history (Deccan Chargers not counted as the same team). He was, however, not retained for the 2018 version and Mumbai Indians grabbed the opportunity to sign him.

Rohit Sharma, meanwhile, expressed his opinion on the acquisition in a video on Mumbai’s YouTube channel, stating that the left-handed cutter-master brings variety to the team and will help Mumbai in their quest to be unpredictable.  

"Mustafizur, as we have seen in the recent past, he has got great variations in his armoury and he's someone who can be a little unpredictable at times and that is what we want. We don't want to be predictable as a team. Mustafizur brings that to your table. We are looking forward to that.”

The fact that the Sunrisers won the 2016 IPL with Mustafizur spearheading their attack alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a testament to the ability that the Fizz possesses. And now, Mumbai Indians will have someone who has the potential to help them retain the title.