Defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) suffered a setback on Wednesday (September 2) after veteran speedster Lasith Malinga made himself unavailable for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 in UAE due to personal reasons.

It was reported that his father was unwell and may require surgery which forced Malinga to stay in Sri Lanka and not travel with rest of the team to Abu Dhabi.

Malinga is the leading wicket-taker in IPL history with 170 wickets and has been instrumental in the success of four-time winners Mumbai Indians. He took the final wicket to fall in the IPL 2019 final to seal a thrilling one-run win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He is also credited for mentoring several young pace bowlers in the MI setup, especially India's Jasprit Bumrah.

MI announced Australian pacer James Pattinson as the replacement for Malinga for the tournament which is set to begin on September 19. Pattinson was previously part of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) but did not play any games for the franchise.

Mumbai Indians owner Akash Ambani welcomed James Pattinson and extended his support to Lasith Malinga. “James is the right fit for us and adds to our pace attack options available at hand especially for the conditions we will play in this season,”

“Lasith is a legend and a pillar of MI’s strength. There is no denying the fact that we will miss Lasith’s cricketing acumen this season. However, we fully understand Lasith’s need to be in Sri Lanka with his family during this time.” he added.

Pattinson is expected to join the MI squad currently training in Abu Dhabi by this weekend. The Rohit Sharma-led side began outdoor practice sessions after completing their six-day mandatory quarantine period.