Mumbai Indians signed the star West Indies bowling all-rounder Romario Shepherd from Lucknow Super Giants on Friday, November 3. Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL) is months away but the teams have started strengthening their squads with the player auction scheduled to take place next month.
Shepherd, the West Indies pace all-rounder, becomes the first player to shift the base in the trade window as the teams need to submit the final released and retained players list before November 26. IPL released a media advisory to confirm Shepherd's move to Mumbai Indians for INR 50 lakh.
"Romario Shepherd has been traded to Mumbai Indians (MI) from Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) during the ongoing TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) trading window ahead of the TATA IPL 2024," IPL media advisory statement said.
Teams are expected to increase activity in the trade window and secure some good signings before the auction as well. Mumbai Indians have only INR 5 lakh left in their purse for the IPL 2024 auction but the five-time champions are expected to increase the amount by releasing some players.
Mumbai Indians struggled with various injuries last season with star pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer missing the entire tournament. Signing Shepherd indicates Mumbai Indians' plans to rebuild their pace attack ahead of the 2024 season.
Shepherd, 28, made only one appearance for KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2023. He joined the team during IPL 2023 auction for INR 50 lakh having played the previous edition for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Mumbai Indians squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Sandeep Warrier, Suryakumar Yadav (vc), Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Mohd Arshad Khan, Ramandeep Singh, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Tristan Stubbs, Kumar Kartikeya, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal, Cameron Green, Riley Meredith, Piyush Chawla, Duan Jansen, Vishnu Vinod, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Raghav Goyal, Chris Jordan, Romario Shepherd
