IPL 2022: Aakash Chopra picks 3 Players whom Mumbai Indians (MI) must retain ahead of IPL 2022.
IPL 2022: The Cricketer turned commentator, Aakash Chopra has named three Mumbai Indians (MI) players as his first choice picks to get retained ahead of the IPL 2022 Mega Auction. The upcoming season 15 of the IPL will bring the Mega Auction to the table, given two new franchises are added.
The teams will be allowed to retain a maximum of three players and can also use a Right To Match (RTM) card on Two.
Mumbai Indians (MI) is the most decorated IPL franchise with five IPL titles followed by MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) with three Cups. MI focuses more on the talent scout and that’s the reason why they are the most successful in recent years.
They groom the young talents and transform them into world-class cricketers. Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan are prime examples of this.
Discussing the most probable retention, Chopra opined that Mumbai Indians (MI) would be happier if no mega auction is conducted because they will have to leave out most of the successful players.
“It will be the most difficult task for the Mumbai Indians. They will want the auction not to happen at all. They would prefer a mini-auction as their team is already set having built such a good side. But they have no option,” said Chopra in his Youtube video.
The 43-years old went with Rohit Sharma as his and Mumbai Indians (MI) first choice retention as he is the most vital cog for the franchise. “If only two retentions and one RTM card is allowed, I think the first retention has to be Rohit Sharma because the team has been built around him. He is their marquee player and you will find it difficult to get a better captain than him in the entire IPL.”
He furter took the name of premier Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah. Chopra feels that there are not many bowlers in the IPL that are of Bumrah’s calibre. He opined that Jofra Archer and Kagiso Rabada are the direct competitors of Jasprit Bumrah.
“Second has to be Jasprit Bumrah because there is no one like him. Bumrah is a bank because there are only 2-3 bowlers like him in the IPL. One is Jofra, the other is Bumrah and maybe Kagiso Rabada although I do rate Jofra and Bumrah slightly above him in the T20 format,” he added.
He later picked Hardik Pandya as his Right To Match (RTM) card option due to his all-rounder abilities. He didn’t name Pandya as the third retention as MI might want to retain Kieron Pollard in that slot.
“I think the RTM should be used for Hardik Pandya. They will want to use it for him because at some stage he will start bowling and he is an asset. The number at which he bats, the sort of player he is, I feel you will want to retain him,” signed off Chopra.
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