'Marco Jansen has been a very highly rated bowler in South Africa' - Zaheer Khan justifies newbie's signing in IPL 2021 Auction

The Mumbai Indians (MI) added more fire power to their bowling arsenal in the IPL auction that was held on 18^th February 2021 in Chennai. Apart from procuring the services of Adam Milne and Nathan Coulter Nile, the side also bought upcoming 20-year-old pacer Marco Jansen.

Jansen has an excellent record in first class cricket. The left arm pacer has picked up 52 wickets in just 12 matches, and averages 20.51 with the ball in hand. And now, Mumbai’s Director of Cricket Operations, Zaheer Khan has revealed the reason why the Mumbai outfit went ahead and bought Jansen.

Zaheer stated that Jansen is a highly rated bowler in South African cricketing circles. Zaheer also added that he was surprised as to why Jansen did not go for a high price and was expecting more franchises to bid for him.

“The youngster Marco (Jansen) has been a very highly rated bowler in South Africa. We were actually surprised to see him go at such a low price. We were expecting some more bidding around him,” said Zaheer in a video that has been released by MI on their official Instagram account.

 

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Akash Ambani says that it was Quinton De Kock who urged MI to purchase Jansen

Akash Ambani, the owner of the Mumbai Indians said that the Mumbai side has an international scouting program in place. Akash added that Jansen was in the Test squad that was to take on Pakistan. The MI owner concluded by stating that it was Quinton De Kock who insisted that Jansen is ‘completely ready’, and would be a good buy for Mumbai.

“We’ve been having an international scout program put in the place in the last few years like we have had an Indian scout program. This year he was in the Test squad going to Pakistan. We had a quiet word with Quinny (Quinton de Kock) and he said ‘you have to go for him, he is completely ready now’,” said Akash Ambani.

The Mumbai side has a potent bowling attack ahead of the 2021 edition of the IPL. They have the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Nathan Coulter Nile, Adam Milne and of course, Marco Jansen in their ranks. And, needless to say, they will once again be the hardest team to beat in the 2021 edition of the IPL.