5 Worst Signings By Mumbai Indians (MI) In IPL History

Mumbai Indians is the most successful franchise in the Indian Premier League so far. The Rohit Sharma-led side has won 5 IPL titles- the most than any other team. They emerged champions in IPL 2013, IPL 2015, IPL 2017, IPL 2019, and IPL 2020. The team is the defending champions of the current season IPL 2021 and also defended their title last season by defeating Delhi Capitals in IPL 2020 final.

Mumbai Indians franchise has backed many of their players in the previous season and developed them into match-winners over the years. The current squad has few incredible players like skipper Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya, Trent Boult among others.

These players turned out to be very successful deals for MI during IPL auctions in the past. However, there are still few expensive deals that did not work out for the Mumbai Indians in the previous seasons of the tournament. In this article, we take a look at the 5 worst signings by Mumbai Indians in IPL history.

5 Worst Signings By Mumbai Indians (MI) In IPL History

Ben Cutting (IPL 2018)

Mumbai Indians franchise agreed to spent Rs. 2.2 crore to induct Australian all-rounder Ben Cutting in the squad during IPL 2018 auction. However, the deal did not yield effective results. The right-handed batsman could score only 96 runs in 6 innings in IPL 2018 at an average of 24.

Moreover, the right-arm seamer could only pick 2 wickets in 7 games and finished as wicketless in as many as 5 matches. He also conceded runs at a high economy rate of 9.88.

Martin Guptill (IPL 2016)

New Zealand cricketer Martin Guptill became part of Mumbai Indians for Rs. 50 lakh in IPL 2016. He initially went unsold in the auction but the franchise picked him to replace Lendl Simmons, who was ruled out due to injury.

MI tried to utilize the right-handed batsman in few games but the idea failed. Guptill could only score 57 runs in 3 matches. As a result, the franchise rather used Jos Buttler as an overseas replacement for Guptill in the playing XI.

Unmukt Chand (IPL 2015)

Mumbai Indians picked Unmukt Chand in IPL 2015 in a trade deal with Rajasthan Royals. Chand played 6 matches for the team in the tournament. He played a great knock of 58 runs in one match but totally failed to score big in the rest of the 5 innings he batted.

As a result, he could only manage 102 runs in 5 innings with a batting average of 20.40. So, the trade deal did not turn out to be useful for the franchise.

Aditya Tare (IPL 2014)

Mumbai Indians picked Aditya Tare for a massive Rs. 1.60 crore deal during IPL 2014 auction. However, the right-handed batsman did not show his magic with the bat. He scored only 126 runs in 12 innings with a batting average of 15.75.

Out of 12 innings, he was out for a low score in 8 innings, while remained not out 4 times. His highest score with the bat was only 24.

Ricky Ponting (IPL 2013)

Former Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting is absolutely a legendary batsman in international cricket. However, in one season of IPL 2013, he proved to a bad deal for Mumbai Indians. The right-handed batsman played 5 matches and could score only 52 total runs with multiple single-digit scores.

He had an average of just 10.40 and the team had to bench him for most of the matches. MI won their first-ever IPL title in the season but Ponting did not have many contributions for the same.