Mumbai Indians are the joint most successful team in the history of the IPL having won five titles in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. Along with two Champions League titles in 2011 and 2013.
Having had champion players such as Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma and Lasith Malinga. This is a franchise not short on star power and their 2024 retentions already show as such.
Retentions made before the 2024 Auction:
- Jasprit Bumrah (18 crore)
- Hardik Pandya (16.35 crore)
- Suryakumar Yadav (16.35 crore)
- Rohit Sharma (16.3 crore)
- Tilak Varma (8 crore)
Players Released:
Dewald Brevis*, Ishan Kishan, Harvik Desai, Tim David*, Vishnu Vinod, Arjun Tendulkar, Mohammad Nabi*, Romario Shepherd*, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Gerald Coetzee*, Anshul Kamboj, Naman Dhir, Shivalik Sharma, Kwena Maphaka*, Kumar Kartikeya Singh, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Luke Wood*, Dilshan Madushanka*, Shreyas Gopal, Nuwan Thushara*
*Overseas Player
Mumbai Indians and their Ultimate Goal:
- Mumbai Indians have always loved the idea of overseas fast bowlers when they played Malinga and Johnson, or Malinga and McClenaghan together in their prime and Mumbai look set to revive it.
- Loads of batting firepower is what Mumbai have and will want once more to make sure they are title contenders yet again.
- As always, Mumbai will also be looking ahead to scouting new talent who may potentially be the future of the team, a la Tilak Varma right now.
What roles do the Mumbai Indians need filled?
- Two overseas quicks, one of which can specialize in the powerplay allowing them to use the other alongside Bumrah through the middle and the death overs!
- An overseas or local keeper batter who is attacking, Mumbai will look to target non famous names for this spot, allowing them to splurge on their overseas quicks, with a batting line-up that is already extremely destructive.
- An attacking T20 spinner, Mumbai have had restrictive spinners in the side with Nabi, Kumar Karthikeya playing, but to form a complete T20 bowling attack, Mumbai will need to target a leg-spinner or a mystery spinner who can hold the bat as well.
- A death overs finisher, this was a phase that the Mumbai Indians struggled with in the 2024 season and they will be looking to target a player who can take down pace.
Read more: About Thomas Draca, the Italian in the IPL Auction.
Possible XI:
- Rohit Sharma
- Overseas Batter/Keeper
- Tilak Varma
- Suryakumar Yadav
- Hardik Pandya
- Indian Batter / All Rounder
- Overseas Batter / All Rounder
- Overseas Spinner / All Rounder
- Overseas Pacer
- Jasprit Bumrah
- Indian Spinner
With 45 crore remaining, Mumbai need to get 13 more players to complete the squad and will have to make a few sacrifices as they look to gather a championship-winning squad once again.
Possible Purchases:
Hunting for four different kinds of players, here are the possible players the Mumbai Indians and their scouts could be looking to target!
- Fazalhaq Farooqi : The MI team will be looking for a left-arm bowler in the powerplay to take early wickets and the Afghan left arm quick Fazalhaq Farooqi takes a wicket once every 11.48 balls in the Powerplay in 2024.
- Spencer Johnson : Johnson is an attractive option for the Mumbai Indians, taking his wickets once every 17.8 balls in the powerplay and adds a mighty fine option at death as Spencer Johnson’s stats at the death are balls per wicket: 10.875, economy rate: 7.52, dot ball percentage: 39.08%
- Marco Jansen: Jansen takes a wicket once every 17.8 balls in the powerplay in 2024, and he has scored 256 runs at a strike rate of 173 adding crucial batting depth to this Mumbai Indians side.
- Wanindu Hasaranga: Hasaranga has scored 513 runs at a strike rate of 156.4 in 2024 and has taken 46 wickets to go with in the middle overs. His bowling average of 16.02, dot ball percentage of 36.52%, economy rate of 6.69 and balls per wicket of 14.76 stand out!
- Tim David: David remains a prolific finisher in the format even after a tough run in the IPL, but he has struck at 189.73 all across the world in 2024, scoring a boundary once every 4.12 balls and he’s been backed globally by the MI franchise.
- Sherfane Rutherford: Rutherford has flown under the radar at the death, having struck at 184.1, scored a boundary once every 3.73 balls but has a high dot ball percentage of 36.40% in 2024.
- Ryan Rickelton: If South Africa were to accquire a prototype of Quinton de Kock, it would be Ryan Rickelton and he’d be a fairly cheap purchase at the auction, a strike rate of 143.62 in the powerplay with a balls per boundary of 4.97, he would add keeping as well!
- Donovan Ferreira: Ferreira has struck at 230.65 in the death overs, with a BpB of just 3.15 while he also chips in with handy off-spin and can keep wickets as well!
- Nathan Ellis: Ellis is a specialist death bowler to form a lethal combination with Jasprit Bumrah, Ellis has an economy of 8.39 in the death overs and a balls per wicket of 12.98!
- Kwena Maphaka: If the MI franchise wanted to take a risk with their scouting, it is Kwena Maphaka who has just ended the T20 Challenge in SA as the best bowler in the competition and has 28 wickets at 19.92 in his career with an economy of 7.4!
- Piyush Chawla: Since the start of 2022, Chawla has taken his wickets at 21.83 in the middle overs, taking a wicket once every 15.87 balls and has an economy rate of 8.31!
- Yuzvendra Chahal: Since 2022, Chahal has taken his wickets at 26.52 in the middle, has an eco of 7.77 and a balls per wicket of 20.66!
- Naman Dhir: Naman Dhir was identified by the Mumbai Indians as a massive player from the Punjab T20 Tournament and his 140 runs at 23 and a strike rate of 177 might give the MI side a great reason to bring him back using the uncapped RTM card.
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