Mumbai Indians, the 5-time IPL champions remained relatively quiet in the recent mega auction but the franchise did acquire a couple of big names at the event.
The Mumbai outfit splurged ₹8 crores to buy Jofra Archer, a staggering sum considering the England pacer’s recent struggles with injury. They also broke the bank to buy back young opener Ishan Kishan for ₹15.25 crore on the first day of the auction.
When it came to getting a player who can bolster the team with his ability to finish games, Mumbai Indians shelled out ₹8.25 crore for Tim David.
Mumbai Indians will be without Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya and Tim David’s addition to the mix secures the batting unit, which was craving for a finisher who can chip in with a late blitz.
Shane Watson: There Will Be Pressure On Tim David As There’s A Lot Of Expectations From Him
Reacting to Tim David’s inclusion to the Mumbai Indians set-up, former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson said there will be pressure on the Singaporean cricketer when he plays in the IPL.
“Definitely, with the high price tag, comes a lot of expectations and pressure from your franchise. It is not until you get into the game-time when you really know how to absorb that pressure that is there.
“I have seen a number of players who have had that expectation and they thrived under it — Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer are those kinds of guys,” said Watson on the ‘ICC Review’ show.
“But there are a number of guys, you can see that the pressure suffocated their performance. Tim David of Singapore plays in the BBL, first time he has got the opportunity to play in the IPL and he will play for Mumbai Indians, so there will be pressure.
“It does provide different complexities and it is exciting about the IPL,” Watson further added.
The first Singaporean to play in the lucrative T20 league in the country, Tim David was snapped up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for the last IPL 2021 edition. He was picked as a replacement player by the Bangalore outfit ahead of the second leg but Tim David played just one game last year, where he scored 1 run.
Mumbai Indians Head Coach Mahela Jayawardene Revealed Tim David Was On Their Radar For A While
Earlier, Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene also revealed that Singapore batsman Tim David was on the team’s radar ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction. The franchise also bought England pacer, Tymal Mills, for ₹1.5 crore, and Australian fast bowler Riley Meredith for ₹1 crore.
“He was on our radar for a while. he has been playing well for the last few months. We knew Jofra would come late so we couldn’t go hard in the beginning but needed someone to strengthen our batting so we decided to play a different game altogether.
“David was part of that plan. We had the purse to go get them both,” Mumbai Indians’ website had quoted Jayawardene as saying.
Australian batsman Tim David, who plays for Singapore, has so far scored 558 runs in 14 T20Is at an impressive strike rate of 158.42 averaging 46.5. He also has 1938 runs to his name in 88 T20 matches at 159.37 including 9 half-centuries averaging 34.
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).
Mumbai Indians IPL 2022 squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brevis, Basil Thampi, Murugan Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, N Tilak Varma, Sanjay Yadav, Jofra Archer, Daniel Sams, Tymal Mills, Tim David, Riley Meredith, Mohd Arshad Khan, Anmolpreet Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Rahul Buddhi, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Aryan Juyal, Fabian Allen.