Mumbai Indians in IPL Player Auction 2015: Major purchases with hopes of 2nd title victory

Mumbai chose not to feature among the top spenders of the evening, opting to pick domestic talent.

Mumbai Indians spent a little over Rs 5 crore during the Indian Premier League (IPL) player auction that took place in Bangalore on Monday. Amit Banerjee comments on the quality of the side picked by the Mumbai side.

Number of players bought: 10

Money spent at IPL 2015 Auction: Rs 5.1 crore

Mumbai Indians (MI), winners of IPL 2013, purchased ten players during the auctions for the eighth edition of the Indian Twenty20 extravaganza that is scheduled to begin on April 8. Despite adding so many names to their squad during the auction, they spent an amount of Rs 5.1 crore, an ordinary expenditure when compared to franchises such as Delhi Daredevils (DD), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), and others. IPL 2015 Auction: Full list of players bought by Mumbai Indians (MI) for IPL 8

Some of the players purchased by the Reliance-owned franchise are among the most well-known names in the Twenty20 format, especially hard-hitting Australian batsmen such as Aaron Finch and Aiden Blizzard. The duo will be a great addition to the batting line-up that consists of names like Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Lendl Simmons, and others. IPL 2015 Player Auction: Full list of players bought by each team

While the addition of the two will be a major boost to the Mumbai Indians’ batting power, the management did not forget about the bowling department either, purchasing in-form New Zealand pacer Mitchell McClenaghan. McClenaghan will have to fight out for a spot in the side with Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood, with Lasith Malinga expected to lead the bowling attack. Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 schedule: IPL 8 match time table with venue details

Pragyan Ojha, who was released from Mumbai Indians along with the likes of Zaheer Khan after featuring in the side in three seasons, was purchased back into the side at his base price of Rs 50 lakh. Ojha has played three seasons for the side, collecting 40 wickets at an average of 30.82 along the way, with best figures of three for 11 coming against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in a home game in the 2013 edition. IPL 2015 Auction: Full list of players unsold for IPL 8

Mumbai chose not to feature among the top spenders of the evening, opting to pick domestic talent in the form of Abhimanyu Mithun, Akshay Wakhare, Nitish Rana, Siddhesh Lad, J Suchith, and Hardik Pandya. All these players were bought for their base price of Rs 10 lakh. IPL 2015 Auction: List of players to be auctioned in IPL 8

Mumbai Indians had earlier decided to retain several of their key players, including the likes of Aditya Tare, Corey Anderson, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, and Harbhajan Singh aside from skipper Rohit Sharma. IPL 2015 Player Auction Updates

Strengths: Pinch-hitters in the form of Kieron Pollard, Corey Anderson, Aaron Finch, and even Rohit Sharma for that matter; death overs specialist in the form of Lasith Malinga.

Weaknesses: The Mumbai side tend to be a little shaky around the knock-out stages. Rohit will hope to recover from his poor patch of form.

Surprise selection: Nitish Rana. Mumbai decided to stretch their list of spinners by including the relatively inexperienced Rana.

Dark horse: Harbhajan Singh. After being given the cold treatment by the BCCI over the selection for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 squad, Bhajji will have the fire burning within him to prove that he is certainly not done with the sport as yet.

(Amit Banerjee, a reporter at CricketCountry, takes keen interest in photography, travelling, technology, automobiles, food and, of course, cricket. He can be followed on Twitter via his handle @akb287)

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