The Mumbai Indians (MI) finished third in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 after losing their all-important Qualifier 2 against the Gujarat Titans (GT) on Friday, May 26.
They had a poor start to their campaign and lost four of their first seven fixtures. However, on the back of some brilliant displays, especially by the batting unit, the team not only qualified for the play-offs but also knocked out the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Eliminator.
Mumbai Indians weren't one of the favorites to make the play-offs because of their lackluster bowling unit after Jasprit Bumrah, Jofra Archer and Jhye Richardson suffered unfortunate injuries.
The franchise signed eight players at the mini-auction and also roped in Chris Jordan as a replacement player in the middle of the season. Out of those eight players, MI gave chances to six individuals.
On that note, let's rank all the Mumbai Indians purchases at the IPL 2023 auction based on how they fared in this year's competition.
#1 Piyush Chawla - 9/10
The Mumbai Indians' spin attack looked bleak ahead of the IPL 2023 auction. They snapped up the services of Piyush Chawla for his base price of 50 lakh. It came as a bit of a surprise, as many felt that the leg-spinner was past his prime.
However, Chawla proved that age is just a number. The 34-year-old was remarkably MI's best bowler of the season.
Playing all 16 games for the Mumbai Indians, Chawla picked up 22 wickets (most by any MI bowler) at an average of 22.50 and an economy rate of 8.11.
#2 Cameron Green - 9/10
Cameron Green became MI's costliest player ever when the franchise dished out a whopping ₹17.50 crore for him at the mini-auction.
One of the hottest assets going around in world cricket, Green settled in with the group quickly and had a brilliant debut season in the IPL.
Although his batting position was shuffled quite a bit throughout the season, he scored 452 runs at a phenomenal average of 50.22 and strike rate of 160.28.
Apart from this, his right-arm pace was also used well by Rohit Sharma. The Australian all-rounder picked up six wickets at an economy rate of 9.5.
#3 Nehal Wadhera - 9/10
MI have one of the most robust scouting networks in the IPL. They have discovered players like Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and Krunal Pandya in the past. Nehal Wadhera seems to be the latest addition to the list.
Wadhera hadn't even made his T20 debut when he was snapped up by the franchise for just ₹20 lakh. However, given his clinical performances this season, he is expected to be the future of MI's batting alongside Tilak Verma.
Wadhera, who batted in ten innings, scored 241 runs at an average of just below 27 and at a strike rate of 145. He even scored two half-centuries in the tournament, one against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) when MI were in dire straits and the other against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in a high-scoring run-chase.
#4 Vishnu Vinod - 7/10
Picked up as a backup for Ishan Kishan, Vishnu Vinod did well in his first game for MI. He played a 20-ball 30-run cameo against the Gujarat Titans (GT) in Mumbai.
However, his next two innings saw him get out cheaply. An attacking batter by trait, Vinod could be a handy batting and wicket-keeping option in the MI setup. He has a lot of experience of playing in the domestic circuit as well.
#5 Duan Jansen and #6 Raghav Goyal - 6.5/10
Duan Jansen and Raghav Goyal, two youngsters bought by MI, had few opportunities to impress as they featured in just one game this season.
Jansen played a day game against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Unfortunately, it didn't go well for him as the left-armer leaked 53 runs and got only one wicket in his four overs.
A tall bowler, who has a steaming bumper in him and can nail yorkers as well, Duan Jansen can be nurtured into a lethal bowler by the Mumbai Indians in the future.
Raghav Goyal played his only game against CSK at Chepauk, where he returned with the figures of 4-0-33-0. He hadn't made his competitive debut before MI signed him either.
Goyal is a left-arm wrist-spinner and can add a lot of variety to MI's bowling attack going forward.
#7 Chris Jordan - 5.5/10
Chris Jordan remained unsold at the IPL 2023 mini-auction, but Mumbai roped him in as a replacement for Jofra Archer in the middle of the season.
The Mumbai Indians wanted to use Jordan's experience in the game's shortest format and expected the T20 specialist to bowl crucial death overs for the remaining games.
The England international massively underperformed, however, taking only three wickets at a startling average of 79.0. Jordan leaked over 40 runs in four of the six innings he bowled in the tournament, with his economy of 10.77 being the second worst in IPL 2023 (among bowlers who bowled 20+ overs).
Given how badly his campaign went this season, Mumbai are unlikely to retain Jordan ahead of IPL 2024.
Looking for fast live cricket scores? Download CricRocket and get fast score updates, top-notch commentary in-depth match stats & much more! 🚀☄️