IPL 2023 mini auction: The all-famous Indian Premier league mini-auction is just a few days away from us. The auctions will take place on December 23, 2022, at Kochi and all the different IPL franchises are trying to get their plans in place to reserve the services of their targetted players for the upcoming season. A total of 997 players have registered their names for the upcoming auctions, but only 87 of them will get picked up by 10 different franchises.
Mumbai Indians especially will look forward to this auction with lots of hopes as they had a pretty poor outing in 2022, IPL's 15th edition. Five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians have been one of the most consistent teams in the history of the tournament, but they certainly failed to get going and revive themselves in the 2022 edition. Mumbai finished in the 10th spot in the last season and as far as the numbers go, it was their poorest season since the initiation of the IPL. Out of their 14 league games, Mumbai just won 4 and lost 10 games. They could only accumulate 8 points and had no chance to go through the players.
What led to Mumbai's downfall?
Hardik Pandya and Mumbai Indians ended their iconic association last year and the franchise failed to replace him with a quality all-rounder. With Pollard gone this year, Mumbai Indians will certainly look to reserve the services of an all-rounder who can provide balance to the side. It is not only the all-rounder conundrum that hurt Mumbai. They are also lacking a wicket-taking spinner who can take wickets in the middle overs and they will have their eyes on a quality spinner.
To prepare themselves for the next season, Mumbai have been pretty cautious and they will have a strategy in mind to give themselves the best chance when the next season starts. The Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians have released a total of 13 players from their squad ahead of the mini-auction which includes their stalwart Kieron Pollard. They traded in Aussie left-arm quick Jason Behrendoff from Royal Challengers Bangalore. Behrendoff might help them address the clouds of doubts looming over Jofra Archer. Mumbai Indians have three overseas slots left and a purse size of INR 20.55 crore. Here is a list of players we feel Mumbai might target.
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Cameron Green from Australia (base price INR 2 crores)
Courtesy of his prowess with both the bat and the ball, Green will be on the watchlist of every franchise. The Aussie certainly will bring a lot of balance to any side that he goes to and he undoubtedly will be on MIs radar to fill their all-rounder slot. Green has played 8 T20 matches in the year 2022 and has scored 139 runs at a strike rate of 173.75. He has also taken 5 wickets at an economy of 8.90
Sam Curran from England (base price INR 2 crores)
Jofra Archer is a part of Mumbai's ensemble core but he is still uncertain about the upcoming edition. Mumbai Indians have traded in Behrendoff but he will still require some support if he plays. Looking at this scenario, Curran's bowling & batting exploits can come in handy for the Mumbai Indians. In 36 T20 matches that he played in 2022, Curran has bowled at an economy of 7.86 and has claimed 46 scalps. Curran has also scored 495 runs at a strike rate of 133.78
Adam Zampa from Australia (base price INR 1.5 crores)
The missing link of Mumbai Indians is spin bowling. Mumbai had to suffer a lot due to the unavailability of any quality spin bowler in their last season, but this time around they will look to change things and they can go for Adam Zampa, a quality leg spinner who has always been very effective for the Australian spin bowling department. Zampa has played 24 T20 matches in 2022 and has claimed 28 wickets. He has bowled at an economy of 7.20 and has registered best figures of 3/16
Mumbai Indians ahead of the mini-auction
Released: Kieron Pollard, Anmolpreet Singh, Aryan Juyal, Basil Thampi, Daniel Sams, Fabian Allen, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Murugan Ashwin, Rahul Buddhi, Riley Meredith, Sanjay Yadav, Tymal Mills
Traded in: Jason Behrendorff
The balance remaining for auction: INR 20.55 crore
Remaining Overseas slots: 3
Current squad: Rohit Sharma (capt), Tim David, Ramandeep Singh, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Jofra Archer, Jasprit Bumrah, Arjun Tendulkar, Arshad Khan, Kumar Kartikeya, Hrithik Shokeen, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal
