Best combined XI of Mumbai Indians’ men's and women's team after WPL Auction 2023
The Mumbai Indians (MI) purchased 17 players at the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2023 auction in Mumbai on Monday, February 13. They picked up India Women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur for ₹1.8 crore, pretty much a steal given the kind of reputation the cricketer has in international cricket.
Mumbai Indians' biggest purchase was seasoned England all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt for ₹3.2 crore. They also bought young New Zealand all-rounder Amelia Kerr for ₹1 crore, Indian pacer Pooja Vastrakar for ₹1.9 crore, and young Women in Blue batter Yastika Bhatia for ₹1.5 crore.
West Indies Women's captain Hayley Matthews (₹40 lakh) and Amanjot Kaur (₹50 lakh) were some of their other buys at the auction. Mumbai Indians ended up exhausting their purse of ₹12 crore while purchasing 17 players, with six of them being overseas cricketers.
Following the WPL auction, MI now have both male and female cricket teams. We try and put together the best combined XI of the franchise, featuring both men and women cricketers.
Openers: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk)
Mumbai Indians can open the batting with skipper Rohit Sharma and keeper-batter Ishan Kishan. Rohit is the most successful captain in the history of the IPL, having guided MI to the crown five times.
Speaking of his batting record in the T20 league, he has 5879 runs in 227 matches at an average of 30.30 and a strike rate of 129.89, with one hundred and 40 fifties. His exploits in white-ball cricket at the international level are known to all.
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Rohit will open the batting with dynamic keeper-batter Ishan Kishan. The 24-year-old, who recently slammed the fastest double hundred in ODIs, has experience playing 75 IPL matches in which he has scored 1870 at an average of 29.22 and a strike rate of 132.34, with 12 fifties. On his day, he can be one of the most destructive hitters of the cricket ball.
Middle order: Suryakumar Yadav, Harmanpreet Kaur
At numbers three and four, the combined Mumbai Indians XI can have the dynamic duo of Suryakumar Yadav and Harmanpreet Kaur. SKY’s exploits in T20I cricket over the last year and a half have been extraordinary. The ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year for 2022, will walk into any T20 team on current form.
It was through his IPL performances that Suryakumar first came into the reckoning, having played some brilliant knocks, especially after joining MI. Overall, the 32-year-old has played 123 IPL matches, scoring 2644 runs at an average of 30.39 and a strike rate of 136.78, with 16 half-centuries.
India Women’s skipper Harmanpreet would be the perfect fit at No. 4 for MI in the combined XI. She has experience dealing with various match scenarios and can handle situations accordingly. If she gets going, there are a few better sights in world cricket.
The 33-year-old has played 148 T20Is, smashing 2989 runs at an average of 28.19, with one hundred and nine fifties. Harmanpreet is also a handy off-spinner who has 32 scalps to her name in the format.
All-rounders: Amelia Kerr, Tilak Varma, Tim David
It was a tough choice between Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amelia Kerr for one of the overseas all-rounder slots. But Kerr got the nod because she bowls leg spin, which is a must-have in T20 cricket. The 22-year-old New Zealander has played 57 T20Is in which she has scored 575 runs and has claimed 55 wickets at an average of 22.03.
Young Tilak Varma was one of the few positives for the Mumbai Indians during an otherwise disastrous season last year. Playing in his debut IPL season, he scored 397 runs at an average of 36.09 and a strike rate of 131.02. Varma can also chip in with some off-spin.
Singapore-born Australian all-rounder Tim David is one of the most destructive hitters of the cricket ball in the T20s. He was purchased by Mumbai Indians for ₹8.25 crore at the IPL 2022 auction.
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While he did not get too many chances to prove his worth in the first half, he played some terrific knocks towards the end of the competition, even winning games for the team. He ended the season with a strike rate of 216.28 in eight matches.
Bowlers: Kumar Kartikeya, Jasprit Bumrah, Jofra Archer, Pooja Vastrakar
Left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya did reasonably well in the few games that he played for Mumbai Indians last year, picking up five wickets in four matches at an average of 20.40. The 25-year-old from Madhya Pradesh is a promising bowler, with 19 wickets in 18 T20s at an impressive strike rate of 19.5 and an excellent economy of 6.69.
Jasprit Bumrah has been India’s finest Indian pacer across formats in recent years. Whenever fit, he straightaway walks into the playing XI. Jofra Archer is yet to make his IPL debut for Mumbai Indians. But England’s 2019 ODI World Cup winner has done enough over the years to earn his place in MI’s combined XI.
India Women pacer Pooja Vastrakar completes the team. The 23-year-old, who is currently representing India at the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023, has 30 wickets to her name in T20Is at an average of 23.20 and an economy rate of 6.04. She can also chip in with the bat.
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