Whenever Cameron Green Is In The Auction, Our Paddle Will Go Up For Him : Akash Ambani

Speaking on JioHotstar’s ‘TATA IPL Auction Review’, JioStar expert Anil Kumble analysed Mumbai Indians’ squad composition and playing XI, while Mumbai Indians Team Owner Akash Ambani provided insights into the franchise’s auction strategy, bidding decisions and long-term vision for the season ahead.Speaking on ‘TATA IPL Auction Review’, JioStar expert Anil Kumble commented on MI’s probable playing XI: “Mumbai Indians have done well in the auctions, especially considering they came with a limited budget. They had already secured Sherfane Rutherford, Mayank Markande and Shardul Thakur even before the auction began. Quinton de Kock coming in, adds a lot of depth and experience to the top order alongside Rohit Sharma. This is a serious batting line-up. If you pick someone like Quinton, you want him opening the innings and then see how he goes, because he can be extremely destructive. Wankhede Stadium really suits his style of batting, we’ve seen that he doesn’t just score 20s or 30s — he goes on to score hundreds, and that makes a big difference. I would certainly like to add Mitchell Santner into this XI. He was a big differentiator for Mumbai Indians last season and addressed an area they needed to strengthen, the spin department. With Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar, MI have the option of playing both or choosing one and then bringing in another spinner like Mayank Markande or even Ashwani Kumar, if he’s bowling well. He did that effectively last season. Ghazanfar missed out last season due to injury, so there are plenty of options available. Overall, this batting line-up, in particular, is extremely solid.”_Speaking on JioHotstar, MI’s Team Owner Akash Ambani commented on auction approach this season: “It was a new experience for us after almost 18 auctions. I think this was probably the lowest spend we’ve ever had at an auction. But we’ve always been very active in the trade market. We managed to get the options we were looking for, and it was important to identify the gaps we wanted to fill. Overall, we were very, very happy with the squad we put together in the big auction.”On MI raising the paddle for Cameron Green Akash said, “Whenever we raise the paddle, we are serious. But in this case, it was also a bit of a homage. Mumbai Indians was Cameron Green’s first IPL team, and we believe he’s a very, very good player — and an even better person. We knew he was out of our purse range for this auction, but it was our way of telling him that he’s still valued and very much in our thoughts. Whenever Cameron Green is in the auction, our paddle will go up for him.”On bidding for Quinton de Kock : “We’ve bid for Quinton in every auction he’s been available. Even last year, we were bidding against KKR for him. There’s a strong chemistry between Rohit and Quinton — they were a championship-winning opening pair for us. From our perspective, Quinton is still extremely experienced and a very strong IPL performer. We believe he’s well-suited to Wankhede and gives us excellent options at the top. His relationship with Ryan was also a factor. Growing up, Ryan idolised Quinton, and he was pushing for him even during the South Africa auction. Now, finally, they’re part of the same team.”On bidding for young players and MI’s long-term vision Akash informed, “Danish Malewar is someone we’ve closely followed. Unfortunately, he picked up an injury this season and didn’t feature in the white-ball tournaments, but we rate him very highly and are delighted to have him. Mohammad Izhar is similar — a fast bowler from Bihar. At Mumbai, we like our left-armers. Previously, we had Trent Boult, and now backing that up we have Ashwani Kumar and Izhar. We wanted to give Ashwani a longer rope because he performed really well for us last season. Izhar comes in with the same promise that Ashwani showed last year. He was a net bowler for us and attended a couple of trials, so we weren’t entirely sure we’d get him, but we’re very happy to secure his services. Atharva has been with us before, back in 2020 during the COVID bubble, and he’s a local Mumbai boy. That local connection was part of the thinking behind Shardul Thakur’s trade as well, bringing back players from Mumbai. We’re very happy with this group. They have the age profile that allows them to build long, successful careers with Mumbai Indians.”



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