Rohit Sharma's vital, virtual message for MI ahead of IPL auction 2021 revealed

The IPL franchises have been busy planning and strategising for the auction that is slated to take place on Thursday, February 18 in Chennai. With the IPL auction 2021 just a few hours away from getting underway, fans, as well as, franchises are all set for the event. Mumbai Indians are one side that have been extremely particular about the kind of players they want to buy at the auction.

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Rohit Sharma wants Mumbai Indians to focus on picking best overseas pacers

The defending champions have seven vacant slots and a purse of ₹15.35 crore which is among the smallest purses at the auction. The Mumbai based franchise will look to play their cards smartly with the limited resources they have. Recently, the Mumbai team management had their final discussions with skipper Rohit Sharma about the players they want to target at the auction.

According to an InsideSport report, the Mumbai team management had a meeting with Rohit Sharma over a zoom call where they discussed the best possible overseas bowling options that are up for grabs at the IPL auction 2021. Mumbai Indians have a couple of huge gaps to fill at the auction with first being the spots of overseas pacers. The Men in Blue released Nathan Coulter Nile, Mitchell McClenaghan and James Pattinson ahead of IPL auction 2021 which leaves them with Trent Boult as the only overseas pacer in the squad.

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Jhye Richardson is one pacer who they could target after his heroics in the recently concluded BBL 2020 where he ended up as the leading wicket-taker in the competition with 29 scalps to his name. New Zealand's Kyle Jamieson is another potential target who could be on Mumbai's radar because of his ability to bowl in the powerplay and bat at the death. Also, considering Mumbai's history of banking on all-rounders, Jamieson is exactly the kind of player they need in their team. As far as Mumbai's second loophole is concerned, it is to buy a top spinner to back up Rahul Chahar. The leg-spinner wasn't at his best during IPL 2020 and was benched in the finals which is why they will look to have an alternative to Chahar. 

Mumbai Indians' potential picks from IPL 2021 auction new players list: Kyle Jamieson, Jhye Richardson, Riley Meredith, Jason Behrendoff, Arjun Tendulkar

Mumbai Indians analysis ahead of IPL auction 2021

Defending champions Mumbai retained most of their players as their squad outclassed every other team to lift the IPL trophy for the fourth time in 2020. However, the Rohit Sharma-led squad decided to part ways with veteran Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga along with Kiwi quick Mitchell McClenaghan and retained 18 players. Australian speedster Nathan Coulter-Nile and James Pattison - who had a terrific IPL 2020 were released as well. 

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MI list of retained players 2021

Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (WK), Chris Lynn, Anmolpreet Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, Aditya Tare (WK), Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohsin Khan

MI list of released players 2021

Lasith Malinga, Mitch McClenaghan, James Pattinson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Sherfane Rutherford, Prince Balwant Rai, Digivijay Deshmukh

IPL auction 2021 date and time

After a lot of curiosity around the IPL auction 2021 date and time, the BCCI on January 27 revealed that the IPL 2021 auction will take place on February 18 in Chennai. The IPL auction 2021 live streaming will begin at 3:00 PM (IST).  Fans in Indian can tune in to the Star Sports Network to catch the live telecast of the program. The IPL auction 2021 live streaming will also be made available on the Disney+ Hotstar app and website as well as on JioTV.

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SOURCE: MUMBAI INDIANS INSTAGRAM