3 glaring issues MI failed to address at the IPL 2025 auction ft. a reliable finisher
The Mumbai Indians (MI) were inactive for large parts of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, as they often are. And as they often do, the five-time IPL champions went about their business with a degree of ruthlessness and clarity that allowed them to construct another excellent roster.
The Indians signed a number of talented bowlers, including Deepak Chahar, Mitchell Santner, Trent Boult and Allah Ghazanfar. They also acquired two talented top-order batters in Ryan Rickelton and Will Jacks. While their bench might not be the strongest, MI have enough talent in their ranks to go all the way.
MI's squad for IPL 2025: Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Bevan-John Jacobs, Robin Minz, Ryan Rickelton, Krishnan Shrijith, Hardik Pandya, Naman Dhir, Will Jacks, Raj Angad Bawa, Vignesh Puthur, Allah Ghazanfar, Karn Sharma, Mitchell Santner, Jasprit Bumrah, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley, Satyanarayana Raju, Arjun Tendulkar, Lizaad Williams
That said, however, no IPL 2025 team is bereft of concerns. Mumbai, as good as their business was, have some of their own. On that note, here are three glaring issues MI failed to address at the IPL 2025 auction:
#3 MI don't have a reliable finisher
After releasing Tim David and Romario Shepherd, MI needed to sign a couple of quality finishers. However, they didn't seem particularly keen on going down that route, as theu signed a plethora of top and middle-order batters instead.
Now, Mumbai will need to be reliant on Hardik Pandya and Naman Dhir to perform that role. While both players are more than capable of doing it, they aren't necessarily proven in that role, especially in recent times.
Hardik was once one of the best finishers in the country, but his game against pace isn't what it once was, although he's showing signs of a renaissance. Dhir, meanwhile, batted in the top three for most of IPL 2024.
It would've been ideal for MI to have plenty of firepower in that department, given how important it is.
#2 Mumbai would've liked to have quality Indian spinners
MI acquired two quality overseas spinners in Santner and Ghazanfar, both of whom can add value with the bat as well. However, if they wanted to give themselves some flexibility with their overseas combination, Indian options would've been useful.
Karn Sharma and Vignesh Puthur are the two Indian wrist-spin options, while Dhir and Tilak Varma can chip in with their off-breaks. If a situation arises where one of Santner and Ghazanfar are unavailable, Karn won't inspire much confidence after the kind of campaign he had for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Puthur, meanwhile, is wholly untested at the IPL level.
#1 Death bowling might be a slight issue for MI
It might seem strange to say this about a team that has the best death bowler in the world, but Jasprit Bumrah can't do everything on his own. MI have experienced the pitfalls of having runs leak from the other end twice in the last three years, and they need to ensure that Bumrah has some support.
Mumbai's first-choice side is likely to have Chahar and Boult playing alongside Hardik and Bumrah in the pace attack, and neither of the new signings are elite at the death. While Boult could give the team an over or two, MI will want the left-armer to potentially give them three quality overs in the powerplay at times.