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IPL 2017 auction: Mitchell Johnson returns to Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians have picked Karn Sharma, who was part of the defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad, for INR 3.2 crores, which was also their highest bid.

Mumbai Indians will aim to bid for 3 more players post lunch © AFP
Mumbai Indians will aim to bid for 3 more players post lunch © AFP

India is all set for the 10th edition of IPL from April 5, but prior to the main event the ongoing auction at Bengaluru saw some surprises. Mumbai Indians (MI) had the liberty to choose 7 players to the side after retaining 20. They have picked Karn Sharma, who was part of the defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), for INR 3.2 crores, which was also their highest bid. Mitchell Johnson comes back to the MI clan for his base price INR 2 crore, after servicing Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) until last year. Meanwhile, West Indies Nicholas Pooran and Krishnappa Gowtham also enter the MI squad.

Gowtham’s call in the MI squad was a timely one as he played a handy knock of 74 against Australia during the three-day practice match at Brabourne Stadium on February 17, 18 and 19 that ended in a draw. Pooran made his T20I debut for West Indies against Pakistan in UAE and managed just 16 runs from 3 matches. MI had begun the first session of the IPL 2017 auction with INR 11.5 crores and until lunch they are left with INR 4.5 crores left in their kitty. MI now have 24 players in their side, aiming to bid for 3 more. IPL 2017 Auction: Full list of players unsold for Indian Premier League 10

The highest bid in this season of IPL has been Ben Stokes for INR 14.5 crore who went to Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) while the second in line was surprisingly Tymal Mills for INR 12 crores for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), who made debut for England in the recently concluded limited-overs series against India. IPL 2017 Auction: Complete list of sold players with price, Indian Premier League 10

It was also a moment to rejoice for the Associate Nation (Afghanistan) with Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan being included in the SRH squad for INR 30 lakhs and INR 4 crores respectively. However, some notable unsold players were Imran Tahir, Jason Roy, Alex Hales and Mohammad Shahzad.

Mumbai Indians squad: Krishnappa Gowtham, Karn Sharma, Mitchell Johnson, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Jos Buttler (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Tim Southee, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell McClenaghan, Parthiv Patel, Ambati Rayudu, Shreyas Gopal, Vinay Kumar, Siddesh Lad, Krunal Pandya, J Suchith, Lendl Simmons, Nitish Rana, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Jitesh Sharma and Deepak Punia

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