5 worst signings by Mumbai Indians in IPL history

It’s true when they say that Mumbai Indians is a family. The franchise has always looked to retain their core and that has worked wonders for this franchise. The bond between their players and their support staff has enriched with every passing year.

Mumbai Indians have one of the strongest scouting systems in the IPL. Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya are amongst the finest players this franchise has ever produced. Mumbai have some very strong cricketing brains in their ranks. John Wright, Robin Singh & Rahul Sanghvi have often been the minds behind MI’s auction strategies.

But miscalculation can get to even the finest of people and Mumbai Indians’ think tank is no exception. Over the years, there have been many MI players who haven’t performed to their potential and they could be looked down upon as poor recruits.

Here is a list of 5 worst signings ever made by the Mumbai Indians in IPL history

1. Ricky Ponting

Can a player with 27,483 runs in international cricket be a part of a group of worst signings ever made? Yes, he can. T20 is altogether a different ball game. Ricky Ponting was picked up by MI in the IPL 2013 auctions for a massive 400,000 USD. With his inclusion, MI boasted of a dream opening pair of Sachin & Ponting. But all the hype surrounding Ponting soon faded away.

Ricky managed only 52 runs in 5 matches and soon found himself out of the playing XI. Mumbai surely expected much more from a player of his class but he was way below par. The fact that MI spent a huge amount of money on him made his signing look even poor.

In every match that he played, his strike rate was below 100 and that put a lot of pressure on MI’s middle order. What looked like a big move soon turned into a nightmare. Although Ricky was pretty good as a coach, one has to admit that his inclusion as a player was a wrong decision.