Mumbai Indians are the most successful franchise in the IPL. They have won the trophy five times and are one of the most high-profile teams in the IPL. They have a hugely loyal fanbase and that means that every single piece of news regarding the franchise is followed very closely by fans around the world.
Mumbai Indians are also well-known for a very professional set up right from the support staff to talent scouts which play a significant role in deciding the overall composition of the side. An essential ingredient for long-term success in a competition like IPL is having a good mix of young players in the squad and that is where Mumbai Indians have done pretty well over the last decade or so.
The 2022 season, however, was a big blow to a successful franchise like Mumbai Indians. They finished at the bottom of the table and could win only 4 games from the 14 they played. The primary reason for their poor season was their bowling unit, which leaked runs throughout the season and lacked penetration.
So, now ahead of the auction for the 2023 season, Mumbai Indians have decided to release 13 players. Most of those players are bowlers and so in the auction for the 2023 season, we might see Mumbai Indians going hard to obtain some quality bowlers ahead of the 2023 season.
Here is the list of 13 players that have been released by Mumbai Indians
. Kieron Pollard
Kieron Pollard has decided to retire from the Indian Premier League and so Mumbai Indians have also released him. The big-hitting allrounder from the Caribbean has been the backbone of the Mumbai side for over a decade and has played a big role in Mumbai Indians winning five IPL titles.
He was the ‘Player of the Match’ in the 2013 final of the IPL which Mumbai Indians won and has played many breathtaking knocks over the years. However, he has not been at his best for the last few seasons now and was even dropped from the XI at the backend of the 2022 season. All these factors might have been the reasons for his decision to retire.
. Daniel Sams
Daniel Sams is another overseas player who has been released by Mumbai Indians. The left-handed seam-bowling all-rounder played 11 matches in the last season and took 13 wickets which are not that bad numbers but it was majorly in the second half of the tournament that Sams’s’s performance improved.
Also, Sams was pretty expensive in the death overs and leaked runs at an economy rate of 8.81 and that might have contributed to his release ahead of the IPL auction 2023.
. Fabian Allen
Fabian Allen is a bowling all-rounder who bowls left-arm orthodox spin and is a hard-hitting batter. He is also a live wire on the field. However, the all-rounder has not done anything of note in the IPL so far. He played only one game in the 2022 season and took one wicket but gave away 46 runs with the ball. With the bat in hand, he could score only 8 runs.
Fabian Allen has also not played a lot of cricket in recent times and has been out of the West Indies team which makes the decision of releasing him a pretty wise one.
. Riley Meredith
A fast bowler from the land of Kangaroos, Australia. Riley came into IPL in the 2021 season when he played for Punjab Kings with a big reputation. He has a raw pace and has tasted success in the BBL. However, in the IPL, he has not been able to make an impact.
Mumbai Indians bought him for the 2022 season and the tall fast bowler played 8 matches but managed to pick only 8 wickets. Moreover, he was also expensive with the ball and leaked runs at an economy rate of 8.43.
. Tymal Mills
Tymal Mills is an experienced T20 bowler. He has played in the leagues all around the world and is known to bowl pretty fast. Over the years, he has also developed variations which had made him successful in the T20 format and he even played for England in the 2021 T20 World Cup.
However, Mills had a poor season for Mumbai Indians in 2022. He took 6 wickets in 5 games but he was picked mainly in the side as a death bowler and he could not deliver on that front. He leaked runs at an economy rate of 11.18 and MI has now decided to release the Englishman from the squad.
. Jaydev Unadkat
Jaydev Unadkat has been a star performer for Saurashtra over the years and across the format. His best season in the IPL was the 2017 season but after that, he has been blowing hot and cold with the ball.
In the 2022 season, Unadkat once again failed to live up to his billing. Mumbai Indians gave him the responsibility of bowling in the death but Unadkat was expensive with an economy rate of 9.50 and played only 5 matches for his team.
. Mayank Markande
Mayank Markande started his IPL journey with a bang in the 2018 season when he picked up 15 wickets for Mumbai Indians in his debut season. However, surprisingly, the leg-spinner has not got enough chances to feature in the playing XI after that season.
The leggie was bought by Mumbai Indians again in the 2022 season but played only two games which again displays the lack of confidence of the management in the young spinner. So, his release from the squad was on the expected lines.
. Murugan Ashwin
Murugan Ashwin was the leg-spinner that Mumbai Indians trusted the most in the 2022 season. He played 8 games and did decently as he picked 9 wickets but he could not make an impact like Rahul Chahar made when he was playing for MI.
The likes of Kumar Kartikeya and Hrithik Shokeen were preferred over him at the backend of the last season and both of them were pretty impressive. So, as a result, both Hrithik Shokeen and Kumar Kartikeya have been retained but Murugan Ashwin has been released.
. Basil Thampi
Basil Thampi is another bowler who failed to make an impact in the 2022 season. The Kerala pacer was preferred over other pacers at the start of the tournament but he was very expensive and was eventually dropped after 5 games.
He picked 5 wickets in 5 games at an economy rate of 9.50 and it was quite clear that MI will release him after he failed to live up to expectations.
. Anmolpreet Singh
Anmolpreet Singh is one of the few batters released by Mumbai Indians ahead of the 2023 auction. The right-handed batter from Punjab was rated very highly right from his U-19 days but has not been able to make a mark in IPL so far.
In the 2022 season, he played only two games and scored a total of only 13 runs. Also, Mumbai Indians already have a strong batting line-up and with Tilak Varma sealing that middle order spot with some spectacular performances in his debut season, Anmolpreet unfortunately has faced the axe.
. Sanjay Yadav
He is an all-rounder who bowls left-arm orthodox spin and is a handy batter too. He played only one game in the 2022 season for MI and Kumar Kartikeya who also bowls left-arm orthodox spin has been preferred over him for the upcoming season.
. Aryan Juyal
Aryan Juyal is a young wicketkeeper batter and is rated quite highly in Indian cricketing circles. However, with Ishan Kishan already in the MI squad, Juyal could not play a single game for the Mumbai Indians last season and has been released from the squad now.
.Rahul Buddhi
Rahul Buddhi is a left-handed middle-order batter who plays for Hyderabad in the Indian domestic circuit. Rahul, just like Aryan Juyal did not get any chance to play a game in the 2022 season and has been released by MI ahead of the 2023 auction.
These are the 13 players released by Mumbai Indians ahead of the auction for the 2023 season. There are some international stars on this list while some are young Indian players. Now, it would be interesting to see how they go about their business in the upcoming auction.
Conclusion
Mumbai Indians have released a big chunk of their squad and most of them are bowlers as bowling was their weaker suit in the 2022 season. They obtained Jason Behrendorff in the trading window and already have Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer in the squad. However, we will surely see Mumbai Indians playing an active role in the 2023 IPL auction as they have plenty of slots to fill ahead of the all-important 16th edition of the IPL.
FAQs
Que 1 – How many players have Mumbai Indians released ahead of the IPL auction 2023?
Ans – Mumbai Indians have released 13 players ahead of the IPL Auction 2023
Que 2 – Which is the big overseas name released by Mumbai Indians?
Ans – Kieron Pollard is the big overseas name released by Mumbai Indians as he has retired from the IPL.
Que 3 – Which is the big domestic Indian name released by Mumbai Indians?
Ans – Jaydev Unadkat is the big domestic Indian name released by Mumbai Indians.
Que 4 – How much is the total purse available with Mumbai Indians?
Ans – INR 20.55 crore.
