IPL franchise Mumbai Indians (MI) retained their core ahead of the upcoming mega auction. The 5-time IPL champions managed to retain massive India stars Jasprit Bumrah (INR 18 crore), Suryakumar Yadav (INR 16.35 crore), Hardik Pandya (INR 16.35 crore), Rohit Sharma (INR 16.30 crore) and finally Tilak Varma (INR 8 crore).
MI’s biggest challenge in the auction will be to fill the squad with a comparatively low budget of INR 45 crore. Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra believes that the franchise could enter the bidding war for this prominent Indian spinner.
“Given their retentions, Mumbai Indians may end up having an entire Indian batting lineup and an entire overseas bowling lineup, apart from a couple of Indian spinners. Whether they get him or not, they will definitely go after Yuzvendra Chahal. They may also want to look at Washington Sundar,” said Aakash Chopra, speaking on his YouTube channel.
Despite being the highest-wicket taker in IPL and the only bowler to take over 200 wickets in the league, Chahal was surprisingly released by the Rajasthan Royals (RR).
On the other hand, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) released Washington Sundar after retaining their power-packed players who destroyed several IPL sides last season. However, having recently impressed for India in the T20I and Test format, Sundar may fetch a high price in the mega auction.
Chopra added that though MI can bid hard for Ishan Kishan, the wicketkeeper-batter may be out of their budget. Instead he named a few alternatives that the franchise can go after.
“They’ll need a wicket-keeper batter. Maybe they go towards Quinton de Kock, or perhaps Jitesh Sharma or perhaps Phil Salt. They will need an overseas opener and wicket-keeper batter. Jitesh does not fit that completely, but he is an Indian,” said Chopra.
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