IPL 2022: A Complete Breakdown Of Mumbai Indians' Squad

Analysis of Mumbai Indians(MI) squad for IPL 2022.

'The interesting thing about time is, it changes' certainly feels like a quote that describes Mumbai Indians' IPL 2022 Mega Auction. The team construction of the MI squad felt more like a team trying to think more in the future than the upcoming season. 

Mumbai began the process by retaining four players - Rohit Sharma(16cr), Jasprit Bumrah(12cr), Suryakumar Yadav(8cr), and Kieron Pollard(6cr). MI entered the IPL auction with a purse of 48 crores. 

At the end of the Auction, MI was left with just 10 lakhs in the bank after buying all 25 players. Interestingly, Mumbai bought 13 uncapped players in the squad for 16.85 crores. They spent 31.05 crores in getting eight capped players through the auction. 

Mumbai bought back three players in the auction who were part of the squad in the 2021 season. A total of seven players are now back with MI this season, including four retentions for 57.75 crores. 

MI's most expensive buy was Indian wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan for 15.25 crores - an amount Mumbai has spent for the first time in IPL Auction history. Their next expensive buy was uncapped Tim David - 8.25 crore. 

MI's Eye On The Future 

The fact that they only got seven players back in the squad and bought 13 uncapped players gives a hint about how they approached the auction - with an eye on the future. However, before the future, there is a present, which is the upcoming IPL 2022 season. 

For this season, the Mumbai Indians squad doesn't look like a typical MI lineup. With several new players and unknown entities, Mumbai is relying heavily on the top three - Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, and Suryakumar Yadav. 

Despite a dynamic top three, Mumbai lacks a proper number four batter. Tim David is at best a number five, which is also a gamble since he is an untested entity who will partner a diminishing Kieron Pollard in finishing the innings. 

Number seven is another spot that will constantly see changes with Fabian Allen and Daniel Sams being frontrunners for the position. 

Jasprit Bumrah will be leading the bowling attack and Mumbai has got Tymal Mills to support him but the third pacer position will be a tricky one. Jaydev Unadkat is an option but his addition along with Bumrah and Mills will make the attack one dimensional. 

Murugan Ashwin and Mayank Markande will be fighting for the spinner's spot with the former likely to be above in the pecking order. 

An Interesting pick for Mumbai is U19 star Dewald Brevis, who, if played, will be at the number four position but for that, an overseas spot will have to be given up. While Brevis is an exciting talent, is Mumbai confident to play him at a crucial position? 

The one for the future is Jofra Archer. Mumbai is banking on the Bumrah-Archer duo to set the stage on fire from the 2023 season. However, Archer is an injury-prone bowler yet to make his comeback in cricket. 

It is a huge gamble to play an injury-prone bowler and an all-format bowler - Bumrah - for a whole season. 

Mumbai Indians are the most successful IPL franchise in 14 seasons but with two new teams added, will their dominance continue this season, or have they overthought their strategy for the long term? Time will tell, but an interesting thing about time is, it changes. 

MI IPL 2022 Squad - Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, N Tilak Varma, Tim David, Kieron Pollard, Daniel Sams, Sanjay Yadav, Murugan Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Tymal Mills, Dewald Brevis, Basil Thampi, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Riley Meredith, Jofra Archer, Arshad Khan, Anmolpreet Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Rahul Buddhi, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Aryan Juyal, Fabian Allen