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IPL 2021 mini-auctions: Mumbai Indians sits relaxed ahead of the Auctions

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You only have to attend an IPL match at the Wankhede Stadium and watch the lights flicker and the floor tremble as the massive wave of applause echoes around the ground when the Mumbai Indians takes the field in their fortress. Over the years, the Mukesh Ambani owned franchise has gone onto become the best team in the tournament and there is hardly any chinks in their armour going into the 2021 IPL mini-auction. 

 

They have got almost all their bases covered and will just look to finetune their final combination going into the 14th edition of the tournament. The champions of the last two editions have been on a match-winning spree and have hardly put their foot wrong, especially in the 2020 edition. Defending their title, the Mumbai Indians was at their professional best and was by far the best team of the tournament. 

 

Coming into the final of the 2020 edition on the back of a comprehensive victory against the Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 1, Mumbai Indians decided to change their winning combination and gave a chance to offie Jayant Yadav which proved to be a masterstroke in the end. Introduced in the powerplay, Jayant bagged the prized wicket of Shikhar Dhawan which put the Capitals on the backfoot right from the word go. This clearly suggests that the 5-time champions relies more on match-ups and player battles which is hardly the case with any other teams.

 

Starting from the top of the order to the middle to the lower middle order and the bowlers, Mumbai Indians have one of the strongest teams on paper and given how the MI management tends to manage their players well, it shouldn’t be a surprise if MI manages to eke out some big buys in the limited opportunities they have.

 

Strengths

 

On paper, Mumbai Indians hardly have any weakness to deal with but they will still look to add some value to their squad once the Mini Auction gets underway on 18th February. The core of Mumbai remains the same with several options in the opening department. Rohit Sharma who opened in the last edition might look to continue at the top of the order to prepare himself for the T20 World Cup slated to be played later in the year in India. 

 

The top of the order is so settled that someone like Chris Lynn had to warm the benches for the whole of the previous season. However, MI still decided to retain him and he might go onto make his debut for the franchise in the upcoming edition. He is an impact player and it will be interesting to see if he is given an opportunity in the upcoming edition especially given the fact that they have all their bases covered in the top order. 

 

When it comes to the middle order the Pandya brothers along with pocket-sized dynamite Ishan Kishan and Kieron Pollard has set the tournament ablaze on several occasions and will definitely look to continue their domination. Now when it comes to the bowling department, the franchise arguably has the two best new ball bowlers Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah. Even in the spin department, guys like Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya has done a great job for the franchise. Hence nothing much needs to be changed for the 5-time champions. 

 

Expected Playing XI ahead of the auction

 

Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah

 

Opportunities 


Mumbai Indians might be looking for a fast bowler from the local set-up to partner with Bumrah and Boult. In the batting department, they might look for a few dynamic foreign players given the fact that they still have 4 overseas slots left among the 7 available spots. Barring these few inclusions here and there, not much needs to be changed for the most successful team in the tournament. 

 

PLAYERS RETAINED: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Quinton de Kock, Anmolpreet Singh, Aditya Tare, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Jayant Yadav, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohsin Khan, Rahul Chahar, Anukul Roy

 

PLAYERS RELEASED: Mitchell McCleneghan, James Pattinson, Lasith Malinga, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Sherfane Rutherford, Digvijay Deshmukh, Prince Balwant Rai Singh.

 

Auction purse left: 15.35 CR

 

Slots available: 7  Overseas slots: 4

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