Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya expressed his delight at the way things panned out for them in the IPL mega auction in Jeddah and said the franchise has “found the right mix” of players.
Having retained the likes of Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, and Tilak Varma, Mumbai Indians managed to have a good auction by acquiring the likes of Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, and Will Jacks in Jeddah.
Pandya revealed that he was constantly in touch with the management during the auction on November 24 and 25, saying he is pretty happy with how the squad is looking for the five-time IPL champions.
“I was in touch with the table as well, exactly who we are going for, and I think we came out pretty well from the auction and how the team is looking,” he said in an MI video posted on social media.
The all-rounder who has been in smashing form in the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy for Baroda said that the Mumbai Indians squad has the right mixture of experience and youth.
“The auction dynamics are always tricky. You know when you are watching it live, it is very exciting and the emotions are always up and down because you want this player but sometimes you just lose. It’s very important to not be very emotional and in the end, we have to create a whole team,” said Hardik in a video posted by the official social media handle of Mumbai Indians.
“We have found the right mix, which is experienced players, like Boulty is back, Deepak Chahar, who has been around, and at the same time, young guns like Will Jacks, Robin Minz, and Rickelton, who are fresh. So I think we have done pretty well. We have covered all the bases,” he added.
Mumbai Indians found me and Jasprit Bumrah
Pandya also recalled how Mumbai Indians discovered the likes of Bumrah, Krunal Pandya, and Tilak Varma at an early stage. He also had some words of wisdom for the new signings ahead of IPL 2025.
“My message, to all the young guns, who are joining Mumbai Indians this year is that if you are here, you have that spark, you have that talent, which the scouts have seen. They found me, they ound Jasprit, they found Krunal, they found Tilak. They all eventually played for the country. All you have to do is show up, train, work hard and the best part is that Mumbai Indians have the facility to make them flourish,” said Hardik.
“There are new faces who are going to come from new franchises. As Mumbai Indians, we’re going to make sure that they feel at home and that they belong here,” he added.
Mumbai Indians had a disappointing campaign in IPL 2024 after the franchise finished at the bottom of the table. Hardik was booed at the Wankhede Stadium after he replaced Rohit Sharma as the captain.
However, the T20 World Cup earlier this year helped Hardik regain public support. It has already been announced that he will continue to lead the franchise.