How Mumbai Indians blundered in IPL 2022 mega auction? 3 players they missed, 2 players they should not have bought

Mumbai, April 20: Mumbai Indians have their one foot out of the IPL 2022 after six straight losses and on Thursday (April 21), the five-time champions will be up against an equally struggling title holders Chennai Super Kings.

So, what has led to the downfall of MI in IPL 2022? Many believe that they failed to bring in the right players from the auction focusing on Ishan Kishan and let go some important players.

Here we are looking at the blunders they made in the auction and also some players they should have bought in the auction through hard bargain.

1 Yuzvendra Chahal

Chahal came to the auction after none of the two new teams picked him from the player draft. His base price was Rs 2 crore. Mumbai Indians started the bidding in earnest there was a prolonged dual with Delhi Capitals to acquire the services of the leg-spinner. In between Sunrisers Hyderabad offered Rs 5.50 crore, their only bid, and MI bettered it with Rs 5.75 crore.

Suddenly, Rajasthan Royals entered the ring and raised the bid to Rs 6 crore. MI made it Rs 6.25 crore but RR overran that sum offering Rs 6.50 crore and MI decided to stop the bidding for Chahal at that point. MI should have persisted a little more with Chahal as now they are feeling the pinch. M Aswhin is a good bowler but does not have the match-turning abilities of Chahal.

2 Jason Holder

Once they off-loaded Hardik Pandya, it was clear that MI needed a genuine all-rounder in their ranks as Kieron Pollard does not bowl as often as he did in the past and as a batsman too the Trinidadian is not the force he once was. Holder could have been a perfect fit as he had picked up 16 wickets from 8 games for SRH in IPL 2021 and can clear the ropes at will.

MI and CSK started the bidding for Holder at his base price of Rs 1.50 crore. Mumbai and Chennai went against each other till the Rs 4.80 crore mark at which CSK opted out of the race. MI offered him till Rs 5 crore and once RR offered the Windies player Rs 5.50 crore, MI too backtracked and eventually Lucknow Super Giants bagged him for Rs 8.75 crore.

3 Trent Boult

Boult had spent two seasons with the MI — IPL 2020 and IPL 2021. He was part of MI’s 5th title win in IPL 2020 and shared a lethal new ball alliance with Jasprit Bumrah. Boult had picked up 38 wickets from 29 matches across two seasons and that’s an impeccable record by any standard. Boult had a base price of Rs 2 crore, and MI joined the race for Boult offering a price of Rs 5.75 crore against RR’s Rs 5.25 crore.

The seesaw battle went on till Rs 7.75 crore, the last price MI offered, and RR grabbed the Kiwis pacer for Rs 8 crore. Boult has already taken 7 wickets from 5 matches while at MI, Bumrah is struggling without an effective partner on his side and shouldering all the burden by himself.

4 Two players MI should not have bought

Jofra Archer: The England pacer came to the auction with a base price of Rs 2 crore. There were interested parties in MI, SRH and RR. The Rajasthan withdrew from the bidding at Rs 6.25 crore and Hyderabad ended the bidding at Rs 7.75 crore and MI acquired him at Rs 8 crore. But all for a bowler who was certain not to play in IPL 2022.

MI wanted to pair Archer with Bumrah, a dream combo, and for that we need to wait till IPL 2023 and even then do we have a certainty that the Englishman will be free of injury? No. It could be that RR and SRH just pushed the case a bit and MI had to buy him at a price much higher than what they had in their mind.

Tim David: There were bids for the burly batsman from MI, KKR, PBKS, LSG, DC and RR and it was justified too because of his exploits in BBL and PSL. He went to MI at a whopping Rs 8.25 crore from his base price of Rs 40 lakh. But MI gave him chances only in 2 matches and he has been benched ever since.

If you can pay Rs 8 crore for Tim David, then MI should have paid a little more and acquired Jason Holder as he is a proven performer in the IPL and one of the top T20 players in the world.