Sanjay Manjrekar thinks that either Pat Cummins or Mitchell Starc could be the main targets for the Mumbai Indians at the IPL 2024 auction.
Before the auction, Mumbai Indians let go of several overseas seamers like Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Duan Jansen, Riley Meredith, and Jhye Richardson. However, they brought in Romario Shepherd, a seam-bowling all-rounder, from the Lucknow Super Giants.
Mumbai Indians might go for starc and cummins.
According to Manjrekar, who shared his thoughts while discussing the auction on Star Sports, Mumbai Indians might try to get either Cummins or Starc.
“Mumbai Indians were pretty poor, if I have to be brutally honest, with their auction. So they have corrected most of their mistakes (with their trades and releases). I think they might need a backup overseas bowler because they have got Jason Behrendorff, there is no Jofra Archer.”
“With Australia’s recent triumph (in the ODI World Cup), you will see a lot of the Australian players, especially people like Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc. So Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc could be two bowlers that Mumbai Indians would be gunning for.”
He explained that Mumbai Indians have a budget of ₹17.75 crore left for the auction, and they can get up to eight players, including four overseas players.
“They have got about 17.5 crores. So I expect them to go hard at Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc. Also, I think somewhere at the top because Cameron Green used to bat at the top of the order and be an exciting option at No. 3 or open. They might want to have an opener as well as an option.”
Manjrekar also mentioned that Mumbai Indians now have a strong middle order after getting Hardik Pandya from the Gujarat Titans. He said that Mumbai Indians might be looking for a top-order replacement for Cameron Green.
“They have got a great middle order. Somebody like a Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya comes in, there is Tim David as well. Pace bowling-wise, maybe a little short. So they might want to have another overseas option.”
Currently, Mumbai Indians have a potentially strong top six players, including Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, and Tim David.
They also have two impactful batters, Nehal Wadhera and Vishnu Vinod, and are likely to focus on strengthening their bowling options during the auction.
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