IPL 2024: Mumbai Indians announce uncapped Maphaka as replacement for Madushanka

"Maphaka has joined the squad and he has the distinction of being one of the youngest players both domestic and overseas to be a part of the IPL and carrying forward the MI legacy of finding new and exciting talent who are developed into high-performance cricketers," MI said in an official statement.

South Africa's 17-year-old Maphaka shot into the limelight at the U19 World Cup earlier this year where he was awarded the Player of the Tournament for picking 21 wickets. The left-armer's 21 wickets are the most ever by a pace bowler in an edition of the U19 World Cup.

He spearheaded South Africa's attack as they made the semi-finals in home conditions. The 17-year-old has already represented South Africa A and South Africa Emerging teams. He will share the dressing room with two of the best bowlers in world cricket - Lasith Malinga, Bowling Coach and Jasprit Bumrah putting him on a path of learning, development and building on that knowledge.

"Maphaka already is capable of generating serious pace and has a very mean bouncer who is known to hurry the batters up. He debuted for the South Africa U19 team at 15 and has already played in two U19 World Cups. He is capable of touching speeds of 140kph and his death bowling and yorkers were a standout too at the U19 World Cup earlier this year," MI further added.

Mumbai Indians have over the years garnered a reputation of finding gems that go on to be international and IPL stars.

The five-time champions MI will open their IPL 2024 campaign against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

Mumbai Indians had a successful season in 2023, reaching the knockout stages of the league. However, they were unable to go the distance and claim their sixth title.

The team finished fourth in the rankings but missed the final after being eliminated by Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2. (ANI)