Very few teams in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) have been consistent with their process in the auction table to earn the right results in the tournament, and Mumbai Indians (MI), one of the two teams to win the title five times in the event along with Chennai Super Kings (CSK), is one of them.
But the 2024 season came with so much shock and disappointment for the franchise, its owners, the players, the management, and their fans. Since they appointed Hardik Pandya as their new captain, replacing Rohit Sharma, the fans got divided into two blocks, making the all-rounder feel uncomfortable for the entire season on the field. MI, in the end, went through a very poor tournament.
Mumbai finished the previous edition of the IPL with the wooden spoon, having collected only four victories in 14 games at the net run-rate of -0.318. The need was to back their core players and bring some refreshments to change the structure of the side.
Mahela Jayawardene, who worked with the MI franchise in the past, returned to the system, as they retained their opening batter and the experienced member, Rohit, along with Hardik and Suryakumar Yadav, the current T20I captain of the side.
MI strengthens top 12 with powerful bowling options
Without a shadow of a doubt, the first pick for them on paper was the premier pacer of world cricket, Jasprit Bumrah, they retained Tilak Verma, who recently smashed two successive centuries in the T20Is. Hardik is expected to retain his leadership position for the next season, as they completed the entire squad in the mega auction.
The Blue side finished with 22 players in the entire squad, fulfilling their quota of eight overseas players. One of the steal buys for the franchise was the England top-order batter with all-rounder abilities, Will Jacks, whom they signed for a price of INR 5.25 crore. Most expected the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to use their Right to Match (RTM) card with the player, but they denied it.
Mitchell Santner, the left-arm spin all-rounder, was also included in the MI side for a base price of INR 2 crore. The new mystery spinner from Afghanistan, Allah Ghazanfar, was expected to earn a few big bucks, and the Mumbai side fought with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to win him for a price of INR 4.80 crore.
The left-arm swing bowler from New Zealand, Trent Boult, has also returned to the MI franchise, with whom the veteran had so much success in the past. The franchise had another intense bidding war with the Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants to get the seamer in for a price of INR 12.50. The addition of Deepak Chahar for a price of INR 9.25 crore will also help the team to have balance in the lower middle order.
Also Read: India Regains Top Position Of WTC Points Table With Heavy Victory In Perth Test Of BGT 2024-25
The owner of the MI team, Akash Ambani, reckoned that they have already locked their first 12 for the opening game of the event and are happy to earn the right back-ups for the upcoming competition.
“Very happy at this position because we have got our playing 12 locked in now. Happy with all the players we have gotten till now. Of course, disappointed to lose so many ex-Mumbai Indians players. The last three years, we’ve thought a lot about what’s the balance that we truly need to get back to winning ways, and for that, you had to balance the emotional aspect of buying players and the skills required in this new T20 game.” The owner claimed.
“Very, very disappointed to miss out on a lot of ex-MI players who have given us a lot of success, all the best to all of them for their new franchises, but also happy with what we have achieved at MI,” Akash concluded.