Mumbai Indians Best Possible Playing 11 for IPL 2022: Focus on Ishan Kishan, untested middle-order

Bengaluru, February 16: Five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians spent a total of Rs 89.90 crore to buy a total of 25 players, including eight overseas cricketers in the two-day IPL 2022 Auction.

The franchise splurged a jaw-dropping Rs 15.25 crores to buy young India wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan in the auction and made some interesting buys at the mega event.

With their purchases, Mumbai Indians' management signalled they are also looking to build a team for the future as they invested handsomely in this regard.

The franchise bought uncapped Aussie cricketer Tim David for Rs 8.25 crore and England speed sensation Jofra Archer for Rs 8 crore. Archer will not be available for this edition of the IPL but the fans are already excited about the prospects of watching the English ace bowl alongside Jasprit Bumrah.

The owners also bought 'Baby AB' Dewald Brevis after engaging in a stiff bidding war with other franchises. The teenage Protea cricketer is already tipped as the next big thing because of the range of shots he played in the recently concluded ICC U-19 World Cup in the West Indies.

Brevis - whose base price was set at Rs 20 lakh - saw interest from Chennai Super Kings but it was Mumbai's bid of Rs 3 crore which sealed the deal.

MI purchased proven names in T20 format like Daniel Sams, Jaydev Unadkat, Riley Meredith, Fabian Allen and Tymal Mills. Uncapped Murugan Ashwin, N Tilak Verma, Mayank Markande, Sanjay Yadav were also purchased by the franchise in the auction.

This year Mumbai's core would hover around retained players and proven match-winners in Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Keiron Pollard.

MI's batting will revolve around Rohit, Suryakumar, Pollard and Kishan but the remainder of their batting looks inexperienced.

Mumbai have loaded the side with quite a few all-rounders but they are yet to prove their mettle in this league. Mumbai's pace and spin department looks balanced and bowling coach Zaheer Khan seems to have covered all the bases for this season.

Now, let's take a look at the Mumbai Indians' best possible playing 11 if everyone is fit and available.

Batters: Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brevis (overseas), Anmolpreet Singh, Rahul Buddhi, Aryan Juyal.

All-rounders: Tim David (overseas), Kieron Pollard (overseas), Jofra Archer (overseas), Daniel Sams (overseas), N Tilak Verma, Fabian Allen (overseas), Sanjay Yadav, Arjun Tendulkar, Ramandeep Singh, Hrithik Shokeen, Mohd Arshad Khan.

Pacers: Jasprit Bumrah, Tymal Mills (overseas), Jaydev Unadkat, Riley Meredith (overseas), Basil Thampi.

Spinners: M Ashwin, Mayank Markande.

MI Best Possible Playing XI

1. Rohit Sharma

2. Ishan Kishan

3. Suryakumar Yadav

4. Anmolpreet Singh

5. Kieron Pollard

6. Fabian Allen

7. N Tilak Verma

8. Murugan Ashwin

9. Daniel Sams