IPL 2022 Auction: 3 uncapped players who are likely to make their debut for MI this season
IPL 2022 Auction culminated last Sunday in Bengaluru. The Mumbai Indians signed 21 players at the mega auction and filled up all the spots available. MI grabbed the headlines by spending ₹15.25 crore to acquire Ishan Kishan's services.
Kishan was not the only proven match-winner signed by MI as they also recruited Jofra Archer, Daniel Sams, Fabian Allen, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Tymal Mills, Murugan Ashwin and Riley Meredith.
While the Mumbai Indians invested in big names, they also kept an eye on the future and signed quite a few uncapped players. Not all of them may make their debut in IPL 2022, but the following three names have the highest chances of kicking off their IPL careers at the Mumbai Indians this season.
#1 Arjun Tendulkar
Mumbai Indians released Arjun Tendulkar ahead of the IPL 2022 auction, but signed him back for ₹30 lakh at the mega auction. Tendulkar entered the mega auction with a base price of ₹20 lakh. Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans showed interest in him, but Tendulkar was eventually signed by MI for ₹30 lakh.
Many fans would know that Arjun is a bowling all-rounder. He belongs to a rare group of Indian players who bowl left-arm pace. Jaydev Unadkat is likely to be Mumbai Indians' first-choice left-arm fast bowler for IPL 2022, with Arjun being the backup.
Given that Arjun spent the IPL 2021 season with MI, trained with some of the best players in world cricket but returned home without playing a match, the team management may look to give him a game or two in IPL 2022.
#2 Dewald Brevis
Dewald Brevis bagged his maiden IPL contract from the Mumbai Indians at the IPL 2022 auction. Since Brevis is nicknamed 'Baby AB de Villiers', many fans believed that the Royal Challengers Bangalore would bid aggressively for him. However, the same did not happen as MI signed the South Africa U-19 star for ₹3 crore.
Brevis showed off his incredible batting skills in the recently-concluded ICC U-19 World Cup 2022. It will be exciting to see how the youngster performs in the biggest T20 league on the planet.
Mumbai Indians may use him as a backup option in the batting department because they also have Tim David and Kieron Pollard in the overseas section.
#3 N. Tilak Varma
Tilak Varma received a contract worth ₹1.7 crore from the Mumbai Indians at the IPL 2022 auction. Varma has never played in the IPL before, but has done well for India U-19s and Hyderabad.
In case you didn't know, he is a top-order batter who can score runs at a quick pace. Speaking of his stats in domestic cricket, the left-handed batter has aggregated 381 T20 runs at a fantastic strike rate of 143.77.
Since the Mumbai Indians showed so much interest in him at the IPL 2022 Auction, it should not be a surprise if he gets a place in the playing XI right from the opening game.