Mumbai Indians and their New Stars for IPL 2014

Mumbai Indians went into the auction as IPL Champions and having retained key players in Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh and Lasith Malinga. They additionally retained Ambati Rayudu ahead of more successful players like Mitchell Johnson, Pragyan Ojha and Dinesh Karthik. Whatever the reason for that, it didn’t slow down Mumbai Indians’ auction experience. They made some costly purchases and some very shrewd buys and some players, interestingly enough manage to fit in both categories.  Unlike previous years’ squads, Mumbai Indians’ 2014 squad is significantly leaner with only 21 players on the roster plus uncapped youngsters.
Their 5 most expensive buys come include a batsman (Michael Hussey, INR 5 crore), an all-rounder (Corey Anderson, INR 4.5 crore), a spinner (Pragyan Ojha, INR 3.25 crore), a fast bowler (Zaheer Khan, INR 2.6 crore) and a wicketkeeper (Aditya Tare, INR 1.6 crore). These are all established successful players.
Micheal Hussey is a proven success in the opening slot in previous IPLs for Chennai and his experience is an invaluable asset to a team that has just lost Sachin to retirement. Corey Anderson is a bit of a gamble. He rode his successful all round performances in the months leading up to the auction to bag a big contract but he has been below average in T20s (318 runs and 11 wickets in 37 matches).  Pragyan Ojha and Aditya Tare were re-signed in the auction while Zaheer Khan was once again added to the roster having after 3 moderately successful seasons with the Royal Challengers. Zaheer will be the Indian spearhead of the bowling attack. Ojha will re-ignite his spin partnership with Harbhajan Singh. Aditya Tare will likely be the 1st choice wicket keeper and opening partner for Michael Hussey.
They also re signed all-rounder Jalaj Saxena (INR 90 Lakhs) who has performed admirably for Madhya Pradesh with his off spinners and occasionally chipping in at the top of the order as well, though his strike rate of 85.55 will probably disqualify from playing that role in the IPL. Jasprit Bumrah, Mumbai Indians’ break through bowler last season, was also retained for a sweet INR 1.2 crore. With 17 wickets in 15 T20s with an economy of 6.41 he has shown his promise but will need to fight to get a spot in the 11 and deliver on the promise.
Having used up most of their budget in retaining players and the aforementioned expensive buys, Mumbai Indians, picked up some potential steals.
CM Gautam(INR 20 Lakh), Ben Dunk (INR 20 Lakh) and Sushant Marathe (INR 10 Lakh), will all be fighting for the role of the 2nd keeper and a place in the playing 11 due to the lack of depth that MI have in the batting department. CM Gautam if given the chance can do a very good job in the middle order or in the opening slot. Ben Dunk comes with a reputation as a good opening batsman and a reliable pair of gloves but will come into the playing 11 at the expense of Hussey, Anderson, Pollard or Malinga which seems difficult on paper. Sushant Marathe will most likely just make up the numbers but due to their lack of depth, he could see a potential breakthrough.
Josh Hazelwood (INR 50 Lakhs), Krishmar Santokie (INR 30 Lakhs) and Merchant de Lange (INR 30 Lakhs) all come with a good reputation and experience in the T20 game. They will all be expected to offer competition for fast bowling slots. Santokie’s exploits for West Indies in the T20 World Cup will likely give him a big boost in this race. Many teams will be ruing not bidding for him now.
All in all, they have a good squad. Lean and mean. But there are some holes in the batting line up and their wicket keeping options, though plentiful, aren’t the best out there. They will be hoping their all rounders and bowlers will power them through. However, if Pollard can, as he often has, carry the middle order along with captain, Rohit Sharma, and if CM Gautam can transfer his Ranji form into this format there will be a much needed balance to the team.