Coming on to the last team in our auction preview series, we are going to talk about Mumbai Indians here.
Mumbai Indians, owned by the famous businessman, Mr. Mukesh Ambani is the most successful IPL franchise having won the competition in the years 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020. There is a famous saying that “winning the title is difficult, but defending it is more” but Mumbai has done it.
This explains that it is a very successful franchise and maybe the best in the whole domestic circuit in the world. Although, the past two years haven’t been much great for this team. In the 2021 season, they finished fifth on the points table and missed the playoff spot because of Net Run Rate (NRR). The 2022 season was horrible for them as they finished last on the points table with only 4 wins from 14 games and 10 big losses and an NRR of -0.506.
Their squad for the 2023 season before the auction looks like this –
Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Surya Kumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David (overseas), Dewald Brevis (overseas), Arjun Tendulkar, Hrithik Shokeen, Jofra Archer (overseas), Mohammad Arshad Khan, Ramandeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Kumar Kartikeya Singh, Tristan Stubbs (overseas), Akash Madhwal, Jason Behrendorff (overseas).
The Mumbai Indians team currently has 16 players in their squad out of which 6 players are overseas. They can buy a maximum of 9 more players to complete their squad. They have a decent amount of funds left with them (INR 20.55 crores) but would want to use them wisely in the auction so that they have a team that doesn’t finish last on the points table this time around. Let us have a look at what their probable starting 11 would look like and what are the gaps they need to ponder upon in the auction.
They have a very reputable left-handed and right-handed batter opening combination that involves Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan. Rohit is a T20I legend whereas Ishan is a budding cricketer who has already shown what he is capable of. Surya Kumar Yadav will bat at 3 and this man needs no introduction. At 4, there will be Tilak Varma who was very good in the last season of the Indian Premier League. I feel Tim David and Tristan Stubbs, two of the world’s best finishers currently who can hit 100m+ sixes easily will be their 5 and 6. Their squad has zero spinners currently and they would like to get some in the auction. So, positions 7 and 8 are yet to be filled. For 9, 10, and 11 Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer (if fit and available) will surely play whereas one position is still empty in the squad. They can play Jason Behrendorff if they get two Indian options for 7 and 8. It will be interesting to see how they perform at the auction as it will help them a lot in building a solid playing 11.
After having a bad tournament and not being in form lately, Rohit Sharma is expected to bring his A-game into the next edition of the IPL. All eyes will be on Jofra Archer if he returns, as it will be his comeback to cricket after long 1.5 years.
