Mumbai Indians (MI), the five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) winners were silent through the major part of the two-day auction but the think-tank shelled out over ₹23 crores for two particular players. On the first day, Mumbai broke the bank to pick wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan for ₹15.25 crore. The Jharkhand opener is anticipated to partner skipper Rohit Sharma at the top.
After making the most expensive purchase, the franchise splurged ₹8 crores on Day 2 to acquire an injured Jofra Archer, who will not be playing in this year’s IPL. The England paceman would form a lethal partnership with Jasprit Bumrah in future.
Mumbai Indians Spent Half Purse To Acquire Services Of Jofra Archer And Ishan Kisan As It Was Revealed Why MI Was Cautious At Auction: Sanjay Manjrekar
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar also believes that Mumbai Indians made a lot of “compromises” to get Ishan Kishan and Jofra Archer. The cricketer-turned-commentator said that the current unit doesn’t look star-studded due to the management’s move of shelling out a major chunk of their purse on both the players.
“Jofra Archer is just a brilliantly gifted bowler and he’s done it in the IPL before. He’s your ‘super over’ bowler, in fact, there might be a fight between the two as to who will bowl the super over. But the mystery has been unravelled – why was Mumbai Indians so cautious and bailing out – because 23 crores was spent on two players – Ishan Kishan and Jofra Archer. Jofra Archer was a real suspect, who would’ve thought who would think like this,” Sanjay Manjrekar said on Star Sports‘ show ‘Cricket Live — IPL Auction Special‘.
“That this is a guy who’s not available this season, but they knew if we bid for him now, you can get him at a very cheap price for 2023 and 2024 but half the purse spent on two players and hence the caution with the others.”
“As a result, we are not looking at a star-studded Mumbai Indians team, normally you see some big names in that team, but they made a lot of compromises to get Ishan and Jofra,” he further added.
Notable that Ishan Kishan was bought by Mumbai Indians at a whopping price of 15.25 Cr as he became the second most expensive Indian player in the history of IPL auction. Sanjay Manjrekar feels that Ishan Kishan is high in confidence and he won’t feel any added pressure with the price tag.
Ishan Kishan played 45 games for Mumbai Indians in 4 seasons as he scored 1133 runs with a strike rate of 138.50 which included 8 fifties. He played a key role in the 2020 season when they won their 5th IPL title. He was the top run-getter for Mumbai Indians in the 2020 season, scoring 516 runs at an average of 57.33, which also helped him earn a national call-up.
Mumbai Indians Happy To Have Jofra Archer To Bowl Alongside Jasprit Bumrah
Mumbai Indians are ready to sacrifice one year as they are looking at Jofra Archer as a long-term investment. Team owner Akash Ambani also explained the rationale behind getting the injury-prone cricketer for such a hefty price.
“Jofra has been a player Mahela gave his first professional debut to and since then we have been thinking about them as a pair. So happy that we got them together. Although he is going to play next year, we are very happy to have Jofra and Bumrah make a lethal pair for our bowling attack,” he said.
The bowling attack of Mumbai will also feature England pacer Tymal Mills, who is yet to prove his mettle in the IPL. The former Royal Challengers Bangalore player is expected to complement Jasprit Bumrah till Jofra Archer returns to action. Mumbai also bought Daniel Sams for ₹2.60 crores after a fierce bidding war with Lucknow Supergiants.
Tim David will also be seen in Mumbai Indians jersey in the upcoming edition. The hard-hitting Singaporean batter, who can fill the void left by Hardik Pandya, was bought for ₹8.25 crore.
Major Buys By Mumbai Indians: Ishan Kishan (Rs 15.25 crore), Tim David (Rs 8.25 crore), Jofra Archer (Rs 8 crore), Dewald Brevis (Rs 3 crore), Daniel Sams (Rs 2.6 crore), Tymal Mills (Rs 1.5 crore), Jaydev Unadkat (Rs 1.3 crore), Riley Meredith (Rs 1 crore), Fabian Allen (Rs 75 lakh).