IPL 2018: 6 players Mumbai Indians will regret letting go of
Mumbai Indians are the most successful franchise in IPL winning the title three times in the first decade. Their success can be attributed to retaining a core team. Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard have been constants in the team that has changed from 2014 to 2018. In 2014, the other players who were part of the core team were Harbhajan Singh, Ambati Rayudu and Lasith Malinga.
In 2018, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Krunal Pandya complete the core team. Because of this core team strategy, they were able to win the trophy three times in the last five editions.
However, in the last three auctions, Mumbai Indians have let go of a lot of good quality players who went on to perform exceptionally for other franchises. Here are the 6 players Mumbai Indians will regret letting go:
#6 Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane, the captain of Rajasthan Royals, was once part of the Mumbai Indians squad. He played for his home franchise in the first three seasons, and in those three years, he scored 148 runs for the franchise in 10 matches. He has not enjoyed much success with the Mumbai franchise and was let go during the 2011 auction.
Ajinkya Rahane was bought by Rajasthan Royals in the 2011 auction, and on the back of his performances in IPL and domestic cricket, he was selected for the Indian national side and made his ODI and T20I debuts in 2011.
Rahane was with the Royals for five years before they were banned. In those five years, he scored 2047 runs for the Jaipur-based franchise. He played for Rising Pune Supergiant for two years and was later retained by RR in the 2018 auction.
Due to the ban on Steve Smith, Rahane was made the captain of the Rajasthan Royals. This will be Rahane's sixth year with the Rajasthan Royals. He crossed the 3000-run mark last season and is currently the eleventh highest run scorer in IPL history. In the first decade of IPL, Rahane scored 25 half-centuries and one century and averages 33.59 in the 111 matches that he was part of.