After two days of intense bidding, loads of planning and smart tactics, our team for the Vivo Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 is out. While we managed to get former MI players like JP Duminy, SuryaKumar Yadav and Aditya Tare, we also added quality overseas players and emerging Indian players to complete our 25-member squad for Vivo IPL 2018. Day 2 was spent in a huge bulk of buying. We bid for several players regularly, with great success on most occasions.

We began proceedings for the second day on a good note by buying the first name that was pulled out of the bag. Leg spinner, Rahul Chahar was fetched for INR 1.9 Crore. The 18-year-old was a part of the Rising Pune Supergiants in 2016 and it’s always good to have a leggie in the squad.

We bid intensely for our former player, Krishnappa Gowtham but stopped pursuing him once the bidding crossed INR 4 crores and the off-spinning all-rounder eventually went to the Rajasthan Royals.

When another set of capped batsmen came up, we initiated the bidding for explosive West Indies opener, Evin Lewis and were in no mood to stop. The war got intense with Sunrisers Hyderabad, who bid quite fiercely for the Caribbean opener too. However, in the end, we were able to acquire his services for INR 3.8 Crore. The Trinidadian already has 2 T20I tons to his name and is slated to open the innings for us this year. Akash Ambani had made it clear that they wanted him and were waiting for his name to come up, “We wanted Evin Lewis from the very start regardless of the price, he is already a good player. It’s just that he hasn’t played IPL”.

Saurabh Tiwary was the next player for whom we showed plenty of interest. We successfully bagged him for INR 80 Lakhs. He was a part of the MI family from 2008 to 2010, and was also the member of our winning campaign last year. He will certainly add strength to the middle order and is a valuable addition to the line-up.

We had acquired a spinning all-rounder in Krunal Pandya through our RTM card, and some company for him would have served well for the team. We decided to invest in all-rounder, Pawan Negi and were about to purchase him. As fortune would have it, Royal Challengers Bangalore decided to use their RTM card and acquired him in the end.

The teams were involved in an intense bidding war for Australia’s Ben Cutting, who played a vital role in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s title-winning effort in 2016 and we managed to sign the Queenslander for INR 2.2 Crore after entering the bidding during a heated moment. He is known to surprise batsmen with his accurate bouncers and is a very handy lower-order batsman.

After a short break, it was time for the uncapped players and we were keen on buying Rinku Singh, but the bidding tussle didn’t go our way.

We had our eyes set on left arm paceman, Pradeep Sangwan and in the end, fetched him for INR 1.5 Crores. His addition will strengthen our bowling department and his variations will be handy on tricky pitches. Our think tank seemed interested in Afghanistan’s mystery spinner, Zahir Khan Pakteen, but went things didn’t turn our way.

Next up, our focus went towards someone who was with us during the first few seasons of the IPL – JP Duminy. A lot of teams were in the hunt for the experienced southpaw, but eventually we managed to buy him for INR 1 Crore, which turned out to be quite a bargain buy, considering his demand in the last few seasons. The South African has been a part of the MI family earlier and his all-round services will be valuable to us in the coming season. Add to that, his game sense will be crucial as well.

Our radar shifted towards the towering Australian quickie, Jason Behrendorff. After stepping down mid-way through the bidding, we got right back in the middle of it all, to purchase the left-arm pacer for INR 1.5 Crore. The 27-year-old represents Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League and is known for his swinging abilities. He will add variety to the MI pace attack which already has the likes of Mustafizur Rahman, Pat Cummins and Jasprit Bumrah.

We also added 25-year-old Tajinder Dhillon to our squad. He hails from Rajasthan and has played a few handy knocks for Rajasthan in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Expect some big sixes from him in the upcoming season.

We continued to go for more young guns and added Punjab’s Sharad Lumba to the squad. He was bought for his base price of INR 20 Lakhs.

At the end of the first session, we had the minimum number of players required to complete a squad (18), but the squad was yet to be completed.

The unsold players were back in the Vivo IPL Auction when we raised our paddle for Parthiv Patel, but couldn’t manage to retain the services of the wicket-keeper, who was picked up by RCB for INR 1.7 Crores.

Siddhesh Lad was the next one bought by us for INR 20 Lakhs. He is a local boy who has been with us from the start and will continue to flaunt the MI jersey.

We managed to pick another local boy as Aditya Tare was bought for INR 20 Lakhs. He has been a match-winner for us in the past and the captain of the Mumbai Ranji team is back home. Aditya is solid behind the stumps and is a great buy overall. His six to seal a breezing victory over the Royals in 2014 is a memory he has left glued in our memories.

Continuing our trend of adding emerging players to the squad, we bagged Punjab’s up and coming leg spinner Mayank Markande. The 20-year-old showed a lot of promise in the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy and is a valuable addition to the squad.

Our search for a mystery spinner ended in Akila Dhananjaya, who became the first Sri Lankan to be bought in the Vivo IPL Auction 2018. The wily off spinner is known for his unorthodox bowling action. He was purchased for INR 50 Lakhs, his base price which is quite a bargain, considering the 24-year-old has plenty of experience of playing in sub-continent conditions and has plenty of variations under his belt.

In the last leg of the auction, we went for a few more lesser-known players, the first of who was emerging teenager Anukul Roy who is spinning a web around batsmen, in the ongoing ICC Under-19 World Cup. He hails from Jharkand and is a slow left arm orthodox spinner; definitely one to watch out for!

We then added one more left-arm pacer to the squad when we purchased Mohsin Khan for INR 20 Lakhs. The 19-year-old from Uttar Pradesh picked up 13 wickets in 8 matches during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and has certainly benefited from it with the MI call up.

Our last buy of the day was another emerging Indian player. We purchased Kerala’s right arm medium pace bowler, Nidheesh M D Dineshan for INR 20 Lakhs and completed our squad for this season.

With the core team intact, a fiery pace attack, a formidable middle order, and a flurry of emerging Indian players at our disposal, it is fair to say that this squad was selected keeping the future in mind. Come the start of Vivo IPL 2018, we are confident that this team will performs in the 2018 season.