6 times Mumbai Indians overspent on their players at the IPL auction

Mumbai Indians is one of the most celebrated teams in the IPL. The franchise has made a name for itself with the kind of consistent performances the team has delivered over the years. And these performances have been possible due to some smart buys at the auction.

Mumbai Indians have been shrewd when it comes to bidding for players at the auctions. They mark their players before the auction and are always prepared to give away a big chunk out of their wallet for buying those players. While luckily for them the strategy of dishing out big bucks for the players has worked well, there have been occasions when this has backfired.

At times, Mumbai Indians have erred in bidding on a particular player. They have also been guilty of buying players for huge amounts and then not using them at all during the tournament. Here we look at 6 times when Mumbai Indians overspent on their players at the IPL auction.

#6 Nathu Singh - Rs 3.2 crore, 2016 auction

Nathu Singh last played IPL for Gujarat Lions in 2017

Nathu Singh shot to prominence on account of his raw pace. Nathu bowled consistently around 145 clicks and was under the radar of a lot of IPL teams at the 2016 auction.

Mumbai Indians saw huge potential in Nathu Singh and spent 3.2 crore to get him on board. But misfortune struck for Mumbai Indians as Nathu Singh injured his shoulder before the IPL and was forced to warm the bench throughout the season.

While the injury was unfortunate there was a feeling that the franchise spent a little too much on Nathu. The Rajasthan seamer was picked up by Gujarat Lions next season but failed to impress. He went unsold at 2018 auction.

#5 Thisara Perera - $650,000, 2012 auction

Perera has played for 6 IPL teams

Thisara Perera has been around in the IPL for a long time. In his 7-year-old IPL career, Perera has played for 6 different IPL teams. The exciting talent in him has always attracted bidders. He can turn a match with his big hitting abilities. Also, Perera is a more than useful fast bowler which makes him perfect T20 material.

On the virtue of these traits, the all-rounder was bought for a jaw-dropping price of $650,000, which was 13 times of his base price of $50,000. However, the Sri Lankan failed to justify the big bucks put on him. In the 2 matches he played in that season, Perera scored just 4 runs and failed with the ball too and thus, Mumbai Indians did not retain him the next year. Perera hasn't been picked up by any teams at the last two auctions.

#4 Pragyan Ojha - Rs 3.25 crore, 2014 auction

Ojha elated after picking up a wicket

Pragyan Ojha came into limelight with some strong performances in the IPL for various franchises. After shinning with the ball for Deccan Chargers in the initial years, Ojha shifted base to Mumbai Indians in 2012.

The Hyderabad spinner proved to be a good recruitment for Mumbai Indians as he delivered some strong performances for the franchise in 2012 and 2013. On account of his strong show in 2013, Mumbai Indians used their RTM card for retaining him for IPL 2014. They spent 3.25 crore rupees in the process. But unfortunately, Ojha failed to extend his purple patch in the IPL in the seventh edition of the tournament. In 12 matches, Ojha took just 4 wickets and gave away runs at an economy of 8.26. Ojha played one more season for Mumbai Indians in which he played a single match and has been out of favor since then.

#3 Aaron Finch - Rs 3.2 crore, 2015 auction

Finch was ruled out of the tournament after playing 3 matches

Aaron Finch is one of the leading T20 batsmen in the world and has a number of T20 records, including the highest score in T20 internationals, to his name. The Victorian has the ability to bludgeon the ball and annihilate any bowling attack on his day.

Owing to these qualities, Finch was bought by Mumbai Indians at the 2015 auction at a whopping price of 3.2 crore. Finch was expected to play a huge role in the Mumbai Indians' campaign but things did not go Finch's way. The current Australian ODI and T20 captain played just 3 matches before getting injured and being ruled out of the tournament. Even before getting injured, the Australian didn't look in great touch. In the three matches that he played in the season, Finch scored just 23 runs.

And even though the injury was unfortunate, one might question Mumbai Indians' decision of spending so much on Finch, who did not have a particularly good IPL record.

#2 Glenn Maxwell - $1,000,000, 2013 auction

Maxwell played 3 games for MI in IPL 2013

Glenn Maxwell has always been a hot property at IPL auctions. The Australian all-rounder has been a huge success in T20 cricket due to his ability of tormenting teams with his hard-hitting batting. Even though Maxwell made his IPL debut in 2012, where he played a couple of matches for Delhi Daredevils, he caught everyone's attention at the 2013 IPL auction.

Mumbai Indians stunned everyone when they went on to buy Glenn Maxwell at a staggering price of 1 million dollars. The big show, as Maxwell is famously called, was an unknown quantity back then and thus it was a huge gamble by the Mumbai based franchise. Strangely, Mumbai Indians played Maxwell in just 3 matches in which he scored 36 runs. It was quite fascinating to notice the amount of money spent by Mumbai Indians on a player who ended up playing just 3 matches.

#1 Kieron Pollard - Rs 5.4 crore, 2018 auction

Pollard has been a match-winner for MI

Kieron Pollard has played a number of match-winning innings over the years. Pollard has bailed Mumbai Indians out of precarious situations a number of times and has thus been a big part of the franchise. Pollard has also contributed with the ball and in the field by taking some stunning acrobatic catches. However, his form his dipped in the last couple of years.

The all-rounder has struggled to get going with the bat and has looked clueless against quality bowling attacks. Mumbai Indians did not retain him coming into the auction as they retained the India trio of Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, and Jasprit Bumrah. But they retained the Trinidadian by using the RTM card for 5.4 crore rupees.

Unfortunately, Pollard's performance was underwhelming during the season and he was a major reason for Mumbai Indians' dismal IPL 2018. He scored 133 runs in 9 matches, numbers you don't expect from a player worth 5.4 crores.