IPL 2020 Auction: 3 overseas spinners Mumbai Indians might target
Mumbai Indians were one of the busiest franchises during the recently concluded IPL trading window. Despite retaining their core, the defending champions released 12 players ahead of the much-awaited auction which is scheduled to take place in Kolkata on December 19th.
Several big names including Alzarri Joseph and Ben Cutting were shown the door by the four-time winners who surprised everyone by trading young, talented Mayank Markande. The 22-year-old who shot into the limelight during IPL 2018 when he took 15 wickets for Rohit Sharma’s men, unfortunately, did not get enough opportunities to prove himself last season.
Markande played just three games throughout season 12 for Mumbai in which he managed a solitary wicket. The leg-spinner who was initially traded to Delhi Capitals was later traded to Rajasthan Royals after Delhi acquired the services of Ajinkya Rahane.
Though Mumbai's overseas combination looks pretty much settled, they don't have an overseas spinner in their ranks and might be tempted to go for one to further strengthen their spin department.
Also see – World Test Championship points table
Let us now look at three quality overseas spinners whom Mumbai might target as a back-up spinner at 2020 IPL auction to add to the balance of their squad.
#1 Ish Sodhi
Sodhi grabbed the headlines during the 2016 World T20 game against India where his figures of 3/18 helped the Kiwis crush the hosts for just 79 runs at Nagpur. The Ludhiana-born leggie began his IPL career in season 11 with Rajasthan Royals upon coming in as a replacement for the injured Afghanistan spinner Zahir Khan despite going unsold at the auction with a base price of INR 50 lakhs.
The 27-year-old played just eight matches for the Jaipur-based franchise during his two-year stint and took nine wickets at an economy of 6.69.
Now, having been released ahead of the 2020 auction, Sodhi who hasn’t had enough chances at Rajasthan will be hoping to make a mark in the IPL for a brand-new franchise. With Mumbai in need of a quality overseas spinner, the New Zealander must be an apt option to go for ahead of the next season. The fact that he has 154 T20 wickets to his name and is familiar with the Indian conditions might augur well for Sodhi.