Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra feels Mumbai Indians (MI) will need to replace Kieron Pollard with a quality overseas all-rounder in the IPL 2023 auction. The former West Indies skipper has retired from IPL cricket and has become MI's batting coach. However, it won't be easy for Mumbai to find a quality all-rounder like Pollard.
Chopra feels the five-time IPL champions might be interested in all-rounders like Cameron Green, Daniel Sams or even Jason Holder. Holder was a part of the Lucknow Super Giants last season and has since been released into the auction pool.
In a video on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra explained how Jason Holder could fit the bill at MI. He said:
"Out of the overseas all-rounders available, they might probably want Daniel Sams, Cameron Green on Jason Holder. They have INR 20.55 crore in their kitty with 9 slots to fill. So it will certainly not be possible for them to bit till 12-13 crore and get a star all-rounder. Holder might cost them a bit less and the conditions in Wankhede might suit him."
LSG don't need Ben Stokes: Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra feels that like MI, LSG also need an overseas all-rounder to get that balance in their playing XI. Lucknow let Holder go back to the auction, but Chopra reckons they might go hard for either Cameron Green or Sam Curran.
The former cricketer also opined why they don't need to break the bank for Ben Stokes. He stated:
"They need to go hard for players like Cameron Green and Sam Curran. They shouldn't bid for Ben Stokes as they don't really need a top-order batter or a captain. They need someone who can bat in the lower middle-order."
Current MI squad: Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brevis, N Tilak Varma, Jofra Archer, Tim David, Mohd. Arshad Khan, Ramandeep Singh, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Jason Behrendorff, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Tristan Stubbs
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