IPL 2018: 6 players Mumbai Indians will regret letting go of

Mumbai Indians are the most successful franchise in IPL winning the title three times in the first decade. Their success can be attributed to retaining a core team. Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard have been constants in the team that has changed from 2014 to 2018. In 2014, the other players who were part of the core team were Harbhajan Singh, Ambati Rayudu and Lasith Malinga.

In 2018, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Krunal Pandya complete the core team. Because of this core team strategy, they were able to win the trophy three times in the last five editions.

However, in the last three auctions, Mumbai Indians have let go of a lot of good quality players who went on to perform exceptionally for other franchises. Here are the 6 players Mumbai Indians will regret letting go:

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#6 Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane, the captain of Rajasthan Royals, was once part of the Mumbai Indians squad. He played for his home franchise in the first three seasons, and in those three years, he scored 148 runs for the franchise in 10 matches. He has not enjoyed much success with the Mumbai franchise and was let go during the 2011 auction.

Ajinkya Rahane was bought by Rajasthan Royals in the 2011 auction, and on the back of his performances in IPL and domestic cricket, he was selected for the Indian national side and made his ODI and T20I debuts in 2011.

Rahane was with the Royals for five years before they were banned. In those five years, he scored 2047 runs for the Jaipur-based franchise. He played for Rising Pune Supergiant for two years and was later retained by RR in the 2018 auction.

Due to the ban on Steve Smith, Rahane was made the captain of the Rajasthan Royals. This will be Rahane's sixth year with the Rajasthan Royals. He crossed the 3000-run mark last season and is currently the eleventh highest run scorer in IPL history. In the first decade of IPL, Rahane scored 25 half-centuries and one century and averages 33.59 in the 111 matches that he was part of.

#5 Glenn Maxwell

Glenn Maxwell

After not having an impressive start to his IPL career for DD in 2012, Glenn Maxwell was bought by Mumbai Indians for the 2013 IPL. He was the biggest buy of the 2013 auction as MI bought him for $1 million. The million dollar batsman was given only three chances to prove his worth but he did not live up to expectations.

By the time of the 2014 auction, Glenn Maxwell's hard-hitting abilities became well known to everyone because of his performances in the international arena. It was expected that MI would use their RTM to retain either Glenn Maxwell or Mitchell Johnson, but to everyone's surprise, they used their RTM to buy back Pragyan Ojha.

Maxwell had a phenomenal IPL 2014 season in which he scored 7 fifties and was key to KXIP's run to the finals. In 2014, he scored 552 runs at a strike rate of 187.75. His overall IPL strike rate is in excess of 160.

#4 Yuzvendra Chahal

Yuzvendra Chahal

Chahal was with the Mumbai Indians squad in the year 2013 but played just a solitary game for them against KKR in Eden Gardens, with the figures of 0/34 from 4 overs.

After MI let go of him in the auction, Royal Challengers Bangalore grabbed the talented player and in the four seasons for RCB, from 2014 to 2017, he took 70 wickets in 59 matches, and the highest wicket-taker for RCB in this period.

He performed particularly well in the 2015 and 2016 seasons in which he claimed 23 and 21 wickets respectively.

Chahal is currently the go-to-bowler for Virat Kohli in IPL and in international cricket. The limited overs specialist is currently ranked third in the T20I bowler rankings.

#3 Dwayne Bravo

Dwayne Bravo

Dwayne Bravo, one of the most entertaining players in the world, played for Mumbai Indians in the first three seasons of IPL. He performed well in the first two seasons for MI as he scored 372 runs and picked up 22 wickets for them. But after a rare failure in the 2010 season, Mumbai did not show faith in him and let him go.

This is what kickstarted Bravo's magnificent journey with CSK, where he has performed exceptionally well for the Chennai-based franchise. He won the purple cap twice in 2013 and 2015 by taking 32 and 26 scalps respectively. 32 wickets taken by him in 2013 is the highest number of wickets by a player in a season.

Bravo returns to the folds of CSK after being a part of the Gujarat Lions squad in last two years. In CSK's first match against MI, he proved his worth by scoring a 30-ball 68 as he helped CSK win the thrilling encounter.

#2 Robin Uthappa

Robin Uthappa

Robin Uthappa was part of the Mumbai Indians squad in 2008. In the first year of IPL, he scored 277 runs for MI with an average of 34.62. Even after having a good season, Mumbai Indians let him go into the auction.

He later played for Royal Challengers Bangalore for two seasons, and later played for Pune Warriors, before moving to Kolkata Knight Riders, where he is playing his fifth season for the Kolkata-based franchise.

After Sachin Tendulkar, he was the second Indian to win the orange cap in 2014. He scored 660 runs in the 2014 season and helped his side win their second IPL title, and is also the sixth highest run scorer in the first decade of IPL.

#1 Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan is one of the most consistent run-scorers in IPL scoring 300+ runs in 8 seasons, and is the seventh highest run scorer in the history of IPL with more than 3500 runs. He played his first season for Delhi Daredevils and scored 340 runs. He was bought by Mumbai Indians in 2009, for whom he played two seasons.

Those were the only two seasons in which he did not score more than 300 runs. Dhawan was not a regular in the Mumbai Indians playing XI as he played only 5 and 10 matches in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

After being left by the Mumbai Indians in 2011 auction, he shifted his base to Hyderabad, representing Deccan Chargers and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Playing from Hyderabad, he scored more than 3000 for the two franchises, DC and SRH. He played a crucial role in SRH's victory in 2016 as he amassed 501 runs and was involved in many crucial partnerships with David Warner at the top.