3 players MI had the penultimate bid for in IPL 2025 Auction who'd have fit the team well ft. Quinton de Kock

Five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Mumbai Indians (MI) were among the teams who built a well-looking squad at the recently concluded auction. While they had already retained a solid core in the likes of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Tilak Varma, and Jasprit Bumrah, they made some solid additions to the squad in the auction.

MI have added some quality players to their squad for the IPL 2025 season such as Trent Boult, Will Jacks, Allah Ghazanfar, Mitchell Santner, Naman Dhir, and Deepak Chahar among others.

While they already had a strong batting core, they had their task cut out to build a potent bowling attack in the auction, which they have managed to do as well. Mumbai will be keen to win a record sixth IPL title with the squad they have assembled ahead of the 2025 season.

However, there were certain players that the franchise went after in the auction but failed to acquire in the end as they were eventually outbid by other teams. That said, here are three players MI had the penultimate bid for in the IPL 2025 auction who would have fit the team well.

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3 players MI had the penultimate bid for in IPL 2025 Auction who'd have fit the team well

#3 Anshul Kamboj

Mumbai Indians had released pacer Anshul Kamboj ahead of the IPL 2025 auctions. The 23-year-old right-arm pacer recently made headlines with his stellar performance against Kerala, playing for Haryana in the Ranji Trophy, where he picked up all 10 wickets in an innings.

Mumbai tried to buy him back at the 2025 auction but faced tough competition from their arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The two teams were in a bidding war. Mumbai had the penultimate bid on Anshul at INR 3.20 crore. However, CSK finally managed to rope in Anshul with a winning bid of INR 3.40 crore in the end.

Being a former player, Anshul would have served as an ideal replacement for Deepak Chahar in Mumbai's squad, given his fitness and injury concerns.

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#2 Wanindu Hasaranga

Leg-spinner and all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga has been the second-highest wicket-taker in T20s in 2024. He has also scored over 2000 runs in T20s with a strike-rate of over 145.

Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians were the only two teams who engaged in a bidding war for the Sri Lankan all-rounder. Rajasthan raised the paddle first at his base price of INR 2 crore. After a long see-saw battle between the two franchises, MI had the penultimate bid at INR 5 crore. Ultimately, however, Rajasthan made the winning bid to acquire Hasaranga at INR 5.25 crore.

After letting Piyush Chawla and Shreyas Gopal go, Mumbai not only needed a potent leg-spinner but also someone who could lead the spin attack. While they did manage to get Mitchell Santner, Hasaranga would have been a better fit given his record in T20s and ability to score some quick runs as well down the order.

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#1 Quinton de Kock

A former MI player, Quinton de Kock was sold to the Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 3.60 crore. Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai were the other two teams in the bidding battle to rope in the South African wicketkeeper-batter.

Mumbai had the penultimate bid at INR 3.40 crore to bring their former player back. Unfortunately, Kolkata outbid them in the end. While the five-time champions did manage to get Ryan Rickelton, Quinton de Kock would have been the perfect fit.

The left-hander would have been their perfect wicketkeeper-batter to handle the glovework and also partner Rohit Sharma at the top of the innings. De Kock has been a proven performer for Mumbai with significant experience having played around the globe and would have been a great fit knowing the team environment after having played for them in the recent past.