3 areas MI need to address during the IPL auction

Mumbai Indians are known to be the powerhouses of the IPL. The team has a rich history of being one of the most competitive teams in the tournament. MI have done exceedingly well over the years and have been a team to beat, however, last year was a complete let down for them.

Mumbai Indians have always been slow starters in the IPL. While most of the times they make up for it by getting better as the tournament progresses, last season they couldn't catch up enough.

The team failed to perform collectively which resulted in a poor show.

However, the new season brings new hopes and they will have the chance to redeem themselves right from the auction. Mumbai Indians' think-tank will have their work cut out as they will have to build a revamped squad that can bring glory to the franchise.

There were a lot of shortcomings last season which needs to be taken care of. Out of a number of areas of concern, here are the top three areas that need to be addressed by Mumbai Indians at the IPL 2019 auction.

#3 Bench strength

MI did not have much to fall back on

In IPL 2018, Mumbai Indians retained big players like Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard and Pandya brothers forming a strong core but they committed a huge mistake by over-relying on them. The team lacked depth in their squad which made life tough when their premier players struggled with their form.

Their choice of backup choices was also debatable last year. Pradeep Sangwan and Saurabh Tiwary haven't been in the thick of things off late, while Tajinder Singh, Mohsin Khan and Nidheesh Dinesan were surprise buys that weren't used throughout the season.

Even their overseas backups weren't convincing. To have a better chance of winning the title this year, Mumbai Indians will need to buy players on current form, players who can get into the playing XI anytime and have the ability to create an impact.

#2 Pace attack

There wasn't much support for Jasprit Bumrah

Mumbai Indians suffered a huge blow before IPL 2018 when Pat Cummins was ruled out of the tournament due to a back injury. Mumbai Indians were banking on Cummins for forming a formidable pace attack with Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya. Mitchell McClenaghan, who has played for them previously, was signed as Cummins' replacement.

Mumbai Indians tried a lot of things in the pace department but failed to find the perfect combination. Mustafizur Rahman and Mitchell McClenaghan lacked consistency which hurt the Mumbai Indians badly.

Moreover, Mumbai didn't have any quality Indian pacer other than Jasprit Bumrah. They tried out Pradeep Sangwan but without much success. While Jasprit Bumrah was bowling fabulously from one end, easy runs were given away from the other.

Apart from roping in new overseas speedsters, Mumbai Indians will need to buy domestic pacers like Rajneesh Gurbani or Navdeep Saini to form a strong pace-battery.

#1 Overseas players

Duminy might lose his place in the Mumbai Indians squad

Overseas players are vital for any successful IPL team because of the kind of experience and talent they bring with them. While they have normally been good with their overseas player's selections, Mumbai Indians raised a few eyebrows with their choice of overseas players at the 2018 auction.

While they used their RTM card for Kieron Pollard, who has clearly past his prime, they put in big bucks on players like JP Duminy, Ben Cutting, who have been effective in the IPL but have never really performed consistently. Mumbai Indians paid a huge price for not buying experienced overseas players with proven track records at the auction.

Apart from Evin Lewis, every overseas player struggled in IPL 11. Mumbai Indians has already released Akila Dananjaya and Mustafizur Rahman from the squad and will release a few international players before the auction.

The franchise will need to address the key issue of finding reliable overseas players to do better than what they did last season.