What Strategy Mumbai Indians (MI) should Plan in 2021
Mumbai Indians, the five-time winner, had an unlikely pre-auction process for IPL 2021. In comparison to recent years, the Mumbai Indians released a significant number of players in the auction, the majority of whom were overseas pacers. Nathan Coulter-Nile, Lasith Malinga, Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell McClenaghan, James Pattinson, Prince Balwant Rai, and Digvijay Deshmukh are among the celebrities on the list.
Overseas players are essential for any IPL squad, and the Mumbai Indians have put a heavy focus on their overseas pacers. So it came as a surprise when they released not one, but five overseas players from the auction list. This has thrown their team’s equilibrium out of whack.
Overall, the Mumbai Indians have a powerful heart, but there are a few holes that will need to be filled in the IPL 2021 Auction. So, how do the Mumbai Indians treat the IPL Auction in 2021? In this post, we’ll find out. Let’s take a brief look at the Mumbai Indians’ retained squad ahead of the IPL 2021 Auction.
Mumbai Indians have retained their core group of players ahead of the IPL 2021 auction
Total Players Retained: 18 / Total Players Overseas: 4 / The total sum available is INR 15.35 crore.
WK Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Chris Lynn, Ishan Kishan, Quinton de Kock, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Saurabh Tiwary are among the batsmen.
Anukul Roy, Hardik Pandya, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, and Krunal Pandya are all-rounders.
Dhawal Kulkarni, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohsin Khan, Rahul Chahar, and Trent Boult are the bowlers on the squad.
Invest in an Overseas Spinner
Krunal Pandya and Rahul Chahar are the only two strong spinners in Mumbai Indians’ squad right now. The performances of both of these bowlers do not inspire much confidence. Krunal has only taken 18 wickets at a low average of 39.7 in the last two years. Chahar, on the other hand, has a respectable 28 wickets at an average of 26.5.
Although an experienced Krunal has performed poorly, Chahar has performed admirably despite his inexperience. As a result, the team urgently requires an overseas spinner who can be used on spin-friendly pitches while also providing valuable guidance to both of these spinners.
Mumbai Indians could look to buy a spinner from Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Moeen Ali, Mitchell Swepson, Adil Rashid, or Shakib Al Hasan, depending on their choices. If not, their old man Harbhajan Singh, who didn’t play in 2020 and was released by Chennai Super Kings, may be a viable choice.
Purchase a Middle-order Batsman as a reserve
Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, and Hardik Pandya all had strong IPL 2020 results in the middle order for Mumbai Indians. While all of these players have been confirmed to play in the IPL 2021, the team still needs a strong back-up middle-order batsman.
Given that the Mumbai Indians still have four overseas sports open, one of them could be filled by an overseas middle-order batsman. The only problem is that Mumbai Indians cannot afford to spend much on this place. They only have around 15 crores remaining, and they need to put in four strong foreign players.
So, based on the current list of available players, they might suggest Steve Smith, Sam Billings, or Glenn Maxwell. There are also some excellent Indian choices, such as Kedar Jadhav, Karun Nair, Shivam Dube, and Hanuma Vihari.
Two Overseas Pacers should be bought by MI
When Mumbai Indians have done well in the IPL, Pacers have been at the core of the squad. One of Mumbai Indians’ strengths is always a mix of three to four pacers. Furthermore, the Wankhade pitch favours pace, which is why the Mumbai Indians must always have a strong 3-4 pacers in their squad.
That’s when the Mumbai Indians shocked me by launching not one, but four pacers in the Auction pool, leaving their pace department unbalanced. Though Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult remain the two leading pacers, they still need a few more to make a formidable pace battery.
Chris Morris, Jhye Richardson, Mark Wood, David Willey, Sheldon Cottrell, or Liam Plunkett are among the choices they have from the list of healthy pacers. They may also look to buy Nathan Coulter-Nile for a cheaper price after he was overpaid in the IPL 2020 season.
As a result, Mumbai Indians (MI) must follow this strategy for the IPL 2021 Auction. Overall, the Mumbai Indians are well-represented in most regions, with the exception of a few differences in the spin and pace departments.