Mumbai Indians (MI) didn't have the best start to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auction, but the five-time champions managed to finish in style on day two of the event. Mumbai Indians had a quiet first day as they made some very calculated moves and went to great lengths to redeem Indian batter Ishan Kishan for the whopping sum of Rs 15.25 crore (INR 152.5 million ).
Mumbai Indians had headed to the mega auction with a purse of Rs 48 crore (INR 480 million) after securing a total of four players: Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Kieron Pollard. MI, one of the most successful teams in league history, were expected to make quick moves in the auction but remained mostly inactive on day one.
After making Kishan the most expensive buy of the IPL 2022 mega auction on day one, MI went big on England pacer Jofra Archer and Singaporean all-rounder Tim David, spending Rs 8 crore (INR 80 million) and Rs 8.25 crore (INR 82.5 million) on the two players respectively. While the prospect of facing Archer and Bumrah together will be a nightmare for top IPL batters, MI has plenty of holes in their squad.
According to Hogg, Mumbai Indians are now short of finishers after the departure of Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya. The former Australia spinner also feels the quality of the spinner in the Mumbai Indians line-up to be average. Hogg also called the acquisition of Archer a huge risk as the England pacer is suffering from an elbow injury which has long kept him out of cricket. Archer will also miss the next IPL season and will be in action from the 2023 edition of the tournament.
“Spending Rs 8 crore on Archer is a big risk, especially after spending Rs 15 crore on Ishan Kishan. He's had two elbow surgeries in the last 18 months, that's the worst injury a fast bowler can get,” Hogg said.
"They have a terrific seeding order in Rohit, Kishan and Surya and then David at No. 4, which is also a risk. Who will hit at No. 5 is the big question. The bowling department is where their headache begins. They don't have depth in their bowling and few top spinners. They also don't have finishers like the Pandya brothers. This is one of the worst auctions MI has ever had,” he added.
In Archer's absence, Mumbai hopes Jaydev Unadkat and Tymal Mills can form a destructive duo with Bumrah. They would also expect a good show from South African Under-19 star Dewald Brevis, who has been termed as the 'next AB de Villiers' by many.
Mumbai Indians full squad for IPL 2022: Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brevis, Basil Thampi, Murugan Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, N Tilak Varma, Sanjay Yadav, Jofra Archer, Daniel Sams, Tymal Mills, Tim David, Riley Meredith, Mohammad Arshad Khan, Anmolpreet Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Rahul Buddhi, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Aryan Juyal, Fabian Allen.
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