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Here’s a look at five uncapped Indian players who performed well for five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians in the 2024 edition of the cash-rich league.
Top emerging Mumbai Indians’ stars from IPL 2024. (Picture Credit: Sportzpics)
Five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians have retained as many as five capped Indian players from the 2024 squad for a sum of Rs 75 crore ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, which is scheduled to take place in Jeddah on November 24 and 25. Star pacer Jasprit Bumrah was MI’s first retention for Rs 18 crore, and he was followed by Hardik Pandya (Rs 16.35 crore), Suryakumar Yadav (Rs 16.35 crore), Rohit Sharma (Rs 16.30 crore), and Tilak Varma (Rs 8 crore).
MI will enter the auction with a remaining purse of Rs 45 crore and will have one RTM, which they can use to sign an uncapped player. In the 2024 edition of the IPL, where MI finished at the bottom of the points table with just eight points from 14 matches, many uncapped players impressed with their performances, and the Mumbai-based franchise could resign one of them via RTM and others in auction again.
Here’s a look at five uncapped players who delivered for MI and could be retained:
Nehal Wadhera: Punjab batter Nehal Wadhera has been associated with MI since 2023, and in the last couple of seasons he has scored 350 runs in 20 matches for the franchise. The left-handed batter is just 24-year-old and has a bright future ahead. He is an attacking batter who bats in middle order and is capable of winning matches single-handedly. In the 2024 season of the IPL, Wadhera scored 109 runs in six matches for the Hardik Pandya-led side.
Akash Madhwal: Medium pacer Akash Madhwal made his IPL debut for MI in 2023, and in 13 matches played so far, he has picked up 19 wickets. The 30-year-old cricketer from Uttarakhand has impressed with his performances for the Mumbai-based franchise in the last couple of seasons, which also included 5 wickets for 5 runs against LSG in the IPL 2023 eliminator match. In IPL 2024, Madhwal played five matches for Hardik Pandya & Co. and picked up five wickets.
Anshul Kamboj: Haryana pacer Anshul Kamboj, who recently became the third bowler to take all 10 wickets in an innings of a Ranji Trophy match, was associated with MI in IPL 2024, and in three matches he picked up two wickets. Kamboj is 23 years old, and apart from MI and Haryana, he has also impressed with his performances for India A in the Emerging Men’s Asia Cup 2024 and in the Duleep Trophy 2024 for Ruturaj Gaikwad-led India C. In the second match of the Duleep Trophy in September, he picked up 8 wickets in an innings against India B.
Naman Dhir: Naman Dhir made his IPL debut for MI in 2024 and in seven matches scored 140 runs. He hammered 62 runs from just 28 balls with the help of five fours and four sixes against LSG in the last match of the season for the franchise. Like Wadhera and Kamboj, Dhir is also very young (24 years old) and can serve the franchise for a long period.
Shams Mulani: Shams Mulani plays for Mumbai in domestic cricket and is the team’s premier spinner who can also contribute with the bat. The 27-year-old spinner has more than 200 wickets to his name in first-class cricket and has scored over 1900 runs. He is yet to make a mark in the IPL, but his numbers in T20s are decent (52 wickets in 45 matches at an economy of 6.70). And if given a chance for a long run, Mulani can win matches.
