Mumbai Indians definitely need to do some serious shopping in the IPL 2023 auction especially when it comes to Spinners and All-rounders, according to former Indian cricketer Akash Chopra. Indian Premier League 2023 Auction will take place in Kochi on December 23. Former Indian cricketer Akash Chopra believes the Mumbai Indians (MI) will need to spend their purse wisely and make some smart buys in the auction to build a balanced playing XI.
Mumbai Indians Released Many Players before IPL 2023 Auction
The five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians had a disastrous run in the fifteenth edition of the IPL in 2022. They finished at the bottom of the table in the tournament. After such a poor season, Mumbai Indians released 13 players ahead of IPL 2023 Auction. They only have 16 players in the squad at the moment, ahead of the mini auction. Veteran Kieron Pollard announced his retirement from the league, and he has been retained as batting coach for the team.
In a video on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra mentioned that MI released many players who were part of their playing XI last season. He believes that they need all-rounders and spinners to make a strong team and playing XI.
“Releasing so many players is not a problem. But quite a few of them were a part of their playing XI last season. So, they will definitely need to do some shopping in the auction, especially when it comes to spinners and all-rounders.”
Akash chopra
Indian Spinners Are Definitely an Issue for Them – Aakash Chopra
MI have let go of their spinners Murugan Ashwin, Mayank Markande, and Sanjay Yadav and retained Hrithik Shokeen and Kumar Kartikeya. Aakash Chopra believes they lack depth in that department. Chopra noted that they don’t have many options in the current crop of spinners who are full of talent.
“Indian spinners are definitely an issue for them. They do have the likes of Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla, Mayank Markande and Shreyas Gopal in the auction pool, but there aren’t many options brimming with talent. So if they have anyone in mind in the first place, they should go hard for that player.”
Mumbai Indians may go hard at Ben Stokes for All-rounders slot
Set 2: Allrounders. Base Price: INR 2 crore
A proven captain. Clarity under pressure. Match-winning allrounder. Supreme fielder. Mentor. Brand. Any or all of these could be Stokes’ calling card. And several teams would want him on their roster. Well before he put his name on the auction list, rumours in the IPL circuit were that Lucknow Super Giants would be going all out to buy him. Sanjeev Goenka, their owner, is a big fan of Stokes and had paid him more than a million dollars in 2017, when Stokes made his IPL debut for Rising Pune Supergiants, also owned by the same group. The Lucknow franchise has INR 23.35 crore to spend and have released Jason Holder, so they will be looking for a replacement. But there will be other teams, too, who could go big solely on Stokes for the balance and impact the England Test captain can create.
IPL record: 920 runs in 43 matches, strike rate 134.50, two centuries and two fifties. With the ball, he has 28 wickets at an 8.55 economy rate.
Last IPL: Was at Rajasthan Royals in 2021 when he was ruled out after playing only one match.
Stokes last played in the IPL in the 2021 season for Royals, but his campaign was curtailed to one match because of a finger injury. Royals played him as an opener in 2020, which proved successful for him personally as he struck a century and a fifty in the eight matches he played, scoring 285 runs at 40.71 and a strike rate of 142.50. During the recent T20 World Cup, Stokes played a key role in the final against Pakistan, where he remained undefeated while hitting his maiden T20I half-century.
Mumbai Indians Squad before IPL 2023
Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brevis, N Tilak Varma, Jofra Archer, Tim David, Mohd. Arshad Khan, Ramandeep Singh, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Jason Behrendorff, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Tristan Stubbs
