Gerald Coetzee sold to MI in IPL 2024 auction for INR 5 crore after bidding war with arch-rivals CSK
Young South African speedster Gerald Coetzee will make his IPL debut for the Mumbai Indians (MI) after being picked up for INR 5 crore in the IPL 2024 auction. The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) also seemed interested till a point but MI seemed determined to get the Protea quick.
Coetzee played for the Johannesburg Super Kings in the SA20 league and it seemed almost certain that CSK would also try to go hard for him. But surprisingly, Mumbai ended up with the final bid of just INR 5 crore which many could feel is a bargain for the talent and the ceiling of the 23-year-old.
Fast bowling, especially in the overseas department, seemed an area that Mumbai Indians would certainly target in the IPL 2024 auction. They will be delighted to have added Coetzee alongside the Indian pace quality of Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Madhwal.
Gerald Coetzee had a memorable 2023 World Cup
Coetzee has already shown that he relishes bowling in Indian conditions, thanks to an incredible 2023 World Cup campaign with the ball. The youngster played just eight games, picking up a staggering 20 wickets at an average of just 19.80.
The South African speedster also produced a valiant performance in the semifinal, almost single-handedly trying to turn the game against Australia. Mumbai could use him as an enforcer alongside Jasprit Bumrah and it could just be the dream bowling duo that the five-time IPL champions would have hoped for.
MI IPL 2024 squad so far: Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya (c), Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Vishnu Vinod, Arjun Tendulkar, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Jasprit Bumrah, Kumar Kartikeya, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Jason Behrendorff, Romario Shepherd (traded in from LSG), Gerald Coetzee.
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