IPL 2024 Auction: "Bowling Looks Better..." - Irfan Pathan Hails Mumbai Indians' Auction Strategy

Mumbai Indians had a terrific IPL 2024 auction given that they spent only 16.70 crores and acquired a really good line-up. They acquired players like Gerald Coetzee, Mohammad Nabi, Dilshan Madhushanka, Nuwan Thushara, and Shreyas Gopal in the auction. The South African bowling all-rounder was the most expensive purchase for the five-time champion getting a bid of INR 5 crore.

The Mumbai-based franchise acquired Dilshan Madhunshanka for just 4.60 crores. Madhushanka is a left-arm pacer from Sri Lanka and was the third-highest wicket-taker in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. Madhushanka got 21 wickets in just nine games in the World Cup including a five-wicket haul against India. He was right ahead of his MI teammates Jasprit Bumrah (20 wickets) and Gerald Coetzee (20 wickets) in the list of highest wicket-takers in the World Cup 2023.

Irfan Pathan and Mohammad Kaif praised Mumbai Indians for their acquisitions in the IPL 2024 auction. They derived a playing XI out of the full squad of 25 members and the team actually looked very strong with a power-packed batting and hit the deck bowling unit.

“It feels like they have done a good job because as I can see in the Playing XI- Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Tim David. The batting is incredible now keep Nabi as you get a spinner alongside Piyush Chawla and then Jasprit Bumrah. If you want to play Coetzee, you can. Akash Madhwal can get a spot and then add Dilshan Madhushanka. So now the bowling looks better this year. They have a green light in terms of the Auction they had,” said Irfan Pathan on Star Sports.

Watch- Irfan Pathan And Mohammad Kaif Giving A Green Light To Mumbai Indians For A Terrific Auction

Mumbai = all bases covered! ?@IrfanPathan & @MohammadKaif give this Mumbai squad a ? light with a wonderful auction where they beefed up their bowling to complement their power-packed batting!#IPLOnStar #IPL2024Auction pic.twitter.com/jg6PZ65PpO

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 21, 2023

Mumbai Indians have announced Hardik Pandya as the new skipper for their 2024 season. While Rohit Sharma is still in the squad, it has left a lot of fans enraged as Rohit Sharma did not leave the captaincy on his terms. Whether there was a discussion with Rohit before giving the captaincy to Pandya is still not clear. Hardik Pandya was traded in from Gujarat Titans ahead of the auction and was announced as the skipper.

According to reports Gujarat Titans approached Mumbai Indians for acquiring Rohit Sharma but apparently, the trade was rejected by MI. The fans do not like the fact that Rohit Sharma was abruptly removed from captaincy and someone who left the franchise in 2022 for a captaincy stint rejoins as the captain of Mumbai Indians.

However, Mumbai Indians had a good run in the auctions and have created a really strong team ahead of the start of the IPL. As far as Rohit Sharma is concerned, the trade window is still open and if any team is interested in Rohit Sharma, they can offer a trade deal to Mumbai Indians for the Indian skipper.