March 21 (ANI): Ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra showered praise on Mumbai Indians ' (MI) Mohammad Nabi and called him a "great utility cricketer".

While speaking on his official YouTube channel, Chopra said Nabi has been batting "extremely well" these days and pointed out that the Afghan cricketer will not be the Mumbai-based franchise's wicket-taker. "Mohammad Nabi is a great utility cricketer. He is batting extremely well these days. So he is adding a lot of value from the batting viewpoint. However, he is not your wicket-taker and will not like the Mumbai ground much because Mumbai is a graveyard for the finger spinners," Chopra said. Talking about Wankhede Stadium, the 46-year-old said it has a "flat pitch and a small ground". "It's a flat pitch and a small ground. This team also has Shams Mulani and Kumar Kartikeya, but will you ever have sleepless nights if you have this spin department in the opposition, and that you will get stuck if you play against them? You will never feel like that," he added. The 17th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will start on March 22, with defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) set to clash with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in a South Indian derby at MA Chidambaram Stadium. Last year's runners-up Gujarat Titans and five-time champions Mumbai Indians will square off against each other in a mouth-watering clash on March 24 at Ahmedabad. The fixture has gained a lot of hype because of star all-rounder Pandya's move to his former franchise MI following two great seasons with GT. Shubman Gill has taken over the captaincy of GT. Mumbai Indians (MI) IPL 2024 squad: Rohit Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Verma, Tim David, Vishnu Vinod, Arjun Tendulkar, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera Jasprit Bumrah, Kumar Kartikeya, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Jason Behrendorff, Hardik Pandya (traded from GT), Romario Shepherd (traded from LSG), Gerald Coetzee, Kwena Maphaka, Shreyas Gopal, Nuwan Thushara, Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Mohammad Nabi, Shivalik Sharma. (ANI)