Mumbai Indians came out with a weird strategy in the IPL Auction 2018. They bid for several players throughout the day but halted quite a lot as the bids went up. There was plenty of movement on the desk of MI but the results at the end of the day do not show the efforts made.
They had retained Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah before the auction and had a sum of INR 47 crores remaining in the purse. Their first addition to the squad from the auction was predictable as they used an RTM card for Kieron Pollard who was bought by Delhi Daredevils for INR 5.4 crores.
After Pollard, who was the 3rd to appear for auction, MI indulged in bidding for several players but ended up buying Mustafizur Rahman of Bangladesh who was the 50th player made available for bidding in the day. The Bangladeshi pacer bagged a bid of INR 2.2 crores which went down considerably given his poor outing in the last edition.
Pat Cummins turned out to be a good pick for MI as the Australian pacer came in for INR 5.4 crores. Surya Kumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan were the 2 uncapped players added to the squad. But the limelight was grabbed by Krunal Pandya.
The Man of the Match of the last year’s final grabbed the attention of Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad and a bidding tussle ended up in the favor of RCB who got the winning bid of INR 8.8 crores. But MI was quick to pounce on the opportunity and used the other RTM card to retain Krunal in the squad.
On the second day, the franchise brought in the Caribbean opener Evin Lewis and the South African all-rounde JP Duminy. At the end, there were plenty of uncapped Indian players that were added to the camp.
Players purchased by Mumbai Indians in the IPL Auction 2018
| Player | Type | Country | Base Price | Sold for |
| Kieron Pollard | Marquee | Windies | INR 2 crores | INR 5.4 crores |
| Mustafizur Rahman | Fast Bowler | Bangladesh | INR 1 crore | INR 2.2 crores |
| Pat Cummins | Fast Bowler | Australia | INR 2 crores | INR 5.4 crores |
| Surya Kumar Yadav | Uncapped Batsman | India | INR 30 Lakhs | INR 3.2 crores |
| Siddhesh Lad | Uncapped Batsman | India | INR 20 Lakhs | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Krunal Pandya | Uncapped All-Rounder | India | INR 40 Lakhs | INR 8.8 crores |
| Ishan Kishan | Uncapped Wicketkeeper | India | INR 40 Lakhs | INR 6.2 crores |
| Aditya Tare | Uncapped Wicketkeeper | India | INR 20 Lakhs | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Rahul Chahar | Uncapped Spinner | India | INR 20 Lakhs | INR 1.9 crores |
| Evin Lewis | Capped Batsman | Windies | INR 1.5 crores | INR 3.8 crores |
| Saurabh Tiwary | Capped Batsman | India | INR 50 Lakhs | INR 80 Lakhs |
| Ben Cutting | All-Rounder | Australia | INR 1 crore | INR 2.2 crores |
| Pradeep Sangwan | Uncapped Fast Bowler | India | INR 30 Lakhs | INR 1.5 crores |
| Mayank Markande | Uncapped Spinner | India | INR 20 Lakhs | INR 20 Lakhs |
| JP Duminy | Capped All-Rounder | South Africa | INR 1 crore | INR 1 crore |
| Jason Behrendorff | Fast Bowler | Australia | INR 1 crore | INR 1.5 crores |
| Tajinder Dhillon | Uncapped All-Rounder | India | INR 20 Lakhs | INR 55 Lakhs |
| Sharad Lumba | Uncapped Batsman | India | INR 20 Lakhs | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Anukul Roy | Uncapped All-Rounder | India | INR 20 Lakhs | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Akila Dananjaya | Spinner | Sri Lanka | INR 50 Lakhs | INR 50 Lakhs |
| Mohsin Khan | Uncapped Batsman | India | INR 20 Lakhs | INR 20 Lakhs |
| Nidheesh M | Uncapped Fast Bowler | India | INR 20 Lakhs | INR 20 Lakhs |
For more such news related to IPL, follow Cricadium on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
