Auction Preview for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2016

Mumbai Indians:

Total Players: 19

Auction Purse: 14,40,50,000

Defending Champions Mumbai is the team with the least amount left in their purse and most players in their roster. They have a problem of plenty, unlike other teams, who are looking to cover their bases, Mumbai will be looking at the auctions mainly procure back-ups for their star studded line-up.

Rohit Sharma, who is in the form of his life in the Limited Overs format, will lead a very formidable side going into the IPL. Their batting that comprises of hard hitting Corey Anderson, Kieron Pollard with the Indian talents Parthiv Patel, Hardik Pandya, Unmukt Chand and Ambati Rayudu all in good form, the opponents will be a bit worried going into the games.

The only worrying factor might be Lendl Simmons’ form and the MI think tank, headed by Ricky Ponting will be looking to get a cover for Simmons in case he fails to light up the IPL like the way he did last time around. The obvious choice for Mumbai for openers slot might be bringing in Shane Watson who had a decent BBL and loves playing in the IPL or may even opt for Martin Guptill who has been in tremendous form for the last year or so.

Corey Anderson, Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya will allow Rohit Sharma the luxury to get done with some overs in the middle in case his main bowlers go for a plenty at the top of the innings.

Jasprit Bumrah has been dubbed as the find of the recent Australia tour and his first team experience will come in handy for Mumbai as he will be looking to pair up with Lasith Malinga who is undoubtedly the best T20 bowler the world has ever seen. The addition of Mitchell McClenaghan last season helped Malinga to relax a bit and find his old groove back. The spin department will be led by the ever so wily Harbhajan Singh who simply loves the challenge of bowling in tough situations.

So to summarize, the Mumbai Indians will be looking to get back-ups for their existing pool of players in some of them misfire. The added advantage that they have is, they can instead go for a high priced player who will provide them the X-Factor instead. What they would not want though is repeat the start of the previous two seasons and get their team balance right from day one itself.

Most Likely Picks: Aaron Finch, Shane Watson, Martin Guptill, Irfan Pathan, Dhawal Kulkarni