Mumbai Indians who are the most successful IPL franchise, winning the coveted trophy a total record of times, managed to build a full squad of 25 players in the Mega Auction which took place on the 12th and 13th February in Bangalore. Mumbai Indians looked to be one of the most affected teams prior to the 2022 Mega Auction as they had built a very successful and dependable core of 7 to 8 players out of which they could retain only 4.
They had retained Rohit Sharma (16CR), Jasprit Bumrah (12CR), Suryakumar Yadav (8CR), and Kieron Pollard (6CR). Vital parts of their previous core Hardik Pandya, Quinton De Kock, Trent Boult, and Krunal Pandya were snapped up by other teams in the draft and Mega Auction. Having a purse of 48 CR left before the auction started, they tried buying back Quinton De Kock and Trent Boult but were outbid.
They had limited budgets for these players as they were saving money for the most expensive player. They bought back the swashbuckling wicket-keeping batsman Ishan Kishan for a whopping 15.25 CR who is also a vital cog in their functioning. On Day 1, apart from the Kishan buy they were fairly quiet as they bought Dewald Brevis, the U19 Star from South Africa for 3 CR, and Basil Thampi for 30 Lakhs.
On Day 2, once again they started quietly as they tried to Khaleel Ahmed but ended up getting Jaydev Undakat for 1.3 CR. They were saving their money for two more big buys and they came in the accelerated process as they got Jofra Archer and Tim David. Mumbai Indians bought the English fast bowler for a whopping 8 CR who won’t even be part of this year’s IPL. Tim David who is a fearsome finisher from Singapore got 8.25 CR and seems to be a like to like replacement for Hardik Pandya. They bought two leg-spinners – Murugan Ashwin for 1.6 CR and Mayank Markande who has been part of the MI franchise previously for 65 Lakhs.
Apart from these big buys, Mumbai Indians invested heavily in overseas pace bowling options having bought the likes of Riley Meredith for 1 CR, Tymal Mills for 1.5 CR, and Daniel Sams for 2.6 CR. They have also found a liking in the U19 players as they bought Tilak Verma for 1.7 CR, who can bat in the middle order and also is handy with the ball as a left-arm orthodox bowler. They have also acquired a lot of uncapped Indian Players for the long run. Finally, they bought the West Indies left-arm spinner who can bat at 6 or 7 – Fabian Allen for his base price of 75 Lakhs.
MI’s Final Squad: Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard*, Ishan Kishan, Tim David*, Jofra Archer*, Dewald Brevis*, Daniel Sams*, Riley Meredith*, Tymal Mills*, Anmolpreet Singh, N Tilak Verma, Fabian Allen*, Basil Thampi, Murugan Ashwin, Mayank Markande, Sanjay Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Arshad Khan, Ramandeep Singh, Rahul Buddhi, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Aryan Juyal.
Total Squad Size: 25 – 17 Indians and 8 Overseas
Purse Remaining: 0.1Cr
Probable Playing XI: Rohit Sharma(C), Ishan Kishan(WK), Suryakumar Yadav, N Tilak Verma, K Pollard*, Tim David*, Fabian Allen*, Mayank Markande / Murugan Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Tymal Mills*,
