IPL 2023: Who can Mumbai Indians release before the auction

Kieron Pollard [Source: Twitter]

To the delight of cricket fans across the globe, we are inching towards the IPL mini auction with each passing day. With the ten franchises set to release a host of players to the auction pool, we are set to witness cut-throat competition in the IPL mini-auction scheduled on December 23. 

The most successful IPL team, Mumbai Indians, had a disastrous campaign last season, finishing as the bottom-sitters with only four victories in fourteen outings. They have failed to qualify for the playoffs in two successive seasons; therefore, they will likely make significant changes in their squad. So, let's analyse and find out which players the five-time champions could release to and target in the mini-auction. 

Mumbai have a settled top five comprising Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, and Tim David. They will likely slot one between Dewald Brevis and Tristan Stubbs (most probably the latter) as their sixth batting option, who can roll his arms for 1-2 overs. So, I see Mumbai releasing Kieron Pollard this season. 

Despite being a match-winner for MI over the years, Pollard found it tough to ensure a fitting finish for his side this year. He is nowhere close to his best now, and MI have an upgraded finisher in Tim David (a better player of hard length and raw pace). Therefore, I feel they will release Pollard and use David and Stubbs as their finishers. 

Alongside Pollard, the Rohit Sharma-led team might let Tymal Mills go, as he had an ordinary tournament last season (six wickets at an economy of 11.18). They might also release Basil Thampi, Jaydev Unadkat, Anmolpreet Singh, as they didn't show enough trust in these players towards the backend of IPL 2022. As they unearthed a gem in Kumar Kartikeya Singh last season, we might see Mayank Markande entering the auction pool. 

However, I don't think MI will release either of Fabian Allen and Riley Meredith, as the former is an established international all-rounder, while the latter had a few decent outings with the ball in the IPL 2022. 

So, the notable names which MI could release to the mini auction pool are: 

• Kieron Pollard (6 cr)
• Tymal Mills (1.5 cr)
• Basil Thampi (30 L)
• Jaydev Unadkat (1.3 cr)
• Anmolpreet Singh (20 L)
• Mayank Markande (65L)

After releasing these players, MI will have an additional 9.95 Crores in their purse. For information, they have already spent 75 lakhs for Jason Behrendorff. So, if they release the aforementioned players, they will use 9.20 Crores in the mini-auction to fill the remaining slots. 

Also Read: AB de Villiers predicts the winner of the T20 World Cup 2022 final