IPL 2018 Transfer Window: 5 players Mumbai Indians will target

The defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) are struggling so far in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). With only a solitary victory under their belt after 6 matches, they are languishing at the 7th position in the points table. They have been in similar positions before and have gone on to win the trophy. They would be confident of doing the same in the upcoming matches. However, they would be wanting to make a good use of the transfer window which will be available soon and look to include some interesting players in their squad.

Football style transfer window has been introduced for the first time in the IPL this time around which has created history as no other league has implemented this concept so far. It will be interesting to see the way the teams look to give a new look to their line-ups. The window will be open after the game between MI and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) which is on Saturday. It should be noted that only the uncapped players who have played 2 or less matches until the halfway stage of the tournament are eligible for the transfer window.

Here we look at 5 players whom Mumbai Indians will be targetting:

1. Dhruv Shorey (Chennai Super Kings)

Dhruv Shorey, the Delhi lad, is an exciting prospect and the one to watch out for in the future. He was in great form in the domestic circuit recently across all the formats and grabbed the eyeballs of all the franchises. He owned the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament by scoring 303 runs at an average of 60.60 in 7 outings at an amazing strike rate of 141.58. He has not played any game so far for CSK and is unlikely to play given that the likes of Murali Vijay has also been benched so far.

Dhruv can bat at any position and has the ability to up the ante at any stage of the game. Mumbai can play him right away at the top of the order in place of Evin Lewis who is struggling to score consistently and make use of his talent. His confidence will do no good if he remains benched for the rest of the season and will not be able to count on his excellent form this season.

2. Apoorv Wankhade (Kolkata Knight Riders)

Apoorv Wankhade is another option Mumbai can look for during the transfer window. He was bagged by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the auction earlier this year but it is unlikely that he will get a chance to feature this season. KKR are somewhat struggling and they wouldn’t want to do any experiment before confirming their place in the playoffs. But Wankhade deserves a game or two at least to showcase his talent after performing well for Vidarbha this year in the T20 tournament.

Mumbai ideally needs a stable middle-order batsman currently who can play a role of run-accumulator at a decent strike-rate. They have been guilty of losing the wickets too quickly despite the top order setting the platform for them to go berserk. Wankhade’s career strike-rate of 129.68 in the format is perfect for them and he is the one who can take the game deep and make sure his team is playing the full quota of 20 overs. With him at one end, the other players can play freely.

3. Navdeep Saini (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Navdeep Saini, the Delhi fast bowler, is warming the bench for Royal Challengers Bangalore squad so far and it looks certain that he won’t play for them at least in the ongoing season. The youngster had rocked the first-class season with his impeccable swing bowling. Though he played only 4 matches for Delhi in the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy, he impressed with an economy of 5.60 and picked 4 wickets as well.

Mumbai Indians need a penetrative bowler like him who can swing the ball both ways and pick wickets early. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell McClenaghan and Mustafizur Rahman are somewhat either hit the deck or death bowlers. So his inclusion in the squad will bring the much-needed variety to the attack and effectively they are in nothing to lose position right now in the tournament. There is no harm in trying out a few new things instead of going by the set template.

4. Aniket Choudhary (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

He was tipped to be a bowler like Mitchell Starc given his pace and him being a left-hander. Aniket Choudhary is another bowling option which the defending champions can aim. There is a very less possibility that he will get a chance to prove his worth in the current RCB playing XI given the flux the team is in after losing their fourth match of the season. He has done well for Rajasthan and based on current form deserves a chance to play a few games.

Mitchell McClenaghan can be benched and a like-for-like replacement to him would be Aniket who will be fresh and can swing the ball upfront by pitching the ball up. It is just about trying some different things for Mumbai to resurrect their meek season thus far. On any day, Aniket’s inclusion is worth after he scalped 8 wickets at an economy of around 7 in the domestic T20 tournament this year.

5. Sachin Baby (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

Sachin Baby has a fair bit of experience of playing in the cash-rich T20 league which should work in his favour during the transfer window. He has featured for Rajasthan Royals and RCB before and is a decent finisher in the shortest format of the game. His career strike-rate in T20s while playing for Kerala is 130.42 which rose to 135.92 while playing in Syed Mushtaq Trophy earlier this year before the auction. SRH doesn’t need him as of now with Yusuf Pathan regaining the form at the right time.

Mumbai can make his use to the full effect with the likes of Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard struggling to do the job. It will be interesting to see if they will approach him but certainly, he is a good option for them and it is better for him as well to play a few games and stay in touch instead of playing in the nets only. Transfer window is going to play a huge role for few uncapped players but the teams should make sure that they pick players only if they want to give him chance and not bench again.