Top job by MI.
After a rather quiet day 1 of auction picking just six players, Mumbai Indians got into fifth gear on Day 2 of the auction especially right at the fag end. They ended up with 25 players with just Rs 65 left in kitty. The final mix is good and looks like a combination which can challenge the best teams of IPL.
As Nita Ambani confirmed their aim was always to retain the core. So apart from retaining Rohit, Hardik and Bumrah, it also used RTM to get Pollard and Krunal Pandya. That is pretty much half the side, who would be playing all the matches, if fit.
Mumbai Indians have always betted big to get big hitting top of the order. And continuing the tradition, MI snapped up Evin Lewis on Day 2 for Rs 3.8 crore. It also got back JP Duminy for a paltry Rs 1 crore. Aditya Tare is back in the fold as back-up keeper.
The batting looks absolutely cracking with the likes of Rohit, Saurabh Tiwary, Surya Kumar Yadav , Ishan Kishan , Hardik and Krunal among the domestic talents. They along with big-hitting foreigners like Pollard and Lewis mean MI has the most enviable top-order in the IPL.
The pace options are also pretty exhaustive. Lead by Bumra,MI possess potent firepower in Sangwan, Fizz, Cutting, Cummins. For a large portion of the auction, it felt like Mumbai Indians will end up without spinners of great pedigree.
But MI being one of the most self-assured teams in IPL, didn't allow for such a faux-pas. It got its Sunil Narain in Akila Dananjaya, who impressed one and all during India's tour to Sri Lanka. Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar ( legbreak), Anukil Roy (leftarm-orthodox), Tajinder Singh (offbreak), Siddhesh Lad (Right arm offbreak), Sharad Lumba (Right arm offbreak) give ample options to the team management to chop and change depending on situation.
In all, Mumbai Indians under their lucky captain Rohit Sharma has got the mix of youth and old perfectly correct. It has invested in some talented youngsters but haven't been reckless like KKR. Similarly, it took some of the top billed players but didn't make the team stacked with too many senior players like CSK. There is no reason why Mumbai Indians can't reach last four with the team they have assembled. If one has to nitpick, then Mumbai's Indian domestic batting recruits doesn't have a real superstar apart from Rohit. The rest are good but can't win 2-3 matches on their own.
Strength: Good mix of Indian and Foreign recruits
Weakness: Batting slightly weaker compared to CSK, SRH.
Auction Rating: 9/10
Krunal Pandya All-Rounder (RTM)
Ishan Kishan Wicket Keeper
Kieron Pollard All-Rounder (RTM)
Pat Cummins Bowler
Evin Lewis Batsman
Suryakumar Yadav Batsman
Ben Cutting All-Rounder
Mustafizur Rahman Bowler
Rahul Chahar Bowler
Pradeep Sangwan Bowler
Jason Behrendorff Bowler
Jean-Paul Duminy
Saurabh Tiwary
Tajinder Dhillon All-Rounder
Akila Dhananjaya Bowler
Nidheesh M D Dinesan Bowler
Aditya Tare Wicket Keeper
Siddhesh Dinesh Lad Batsman
Mayank Markande Bowler
Sharad Lumba Batsman
Anukul Roy All-Rounder
Mohsin Khan- Bowler
Rohit Sharma- Batsman(R)
Jaspreet Bumrah- Bowler (R)
Hardik Pandya- All Rounder (R)
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