IPL 2020: Zaheer Khan talks about why Trent Boult was traded in by Mumbai Indians

Former India left-arm pacer and the current Director of Cricket Operations at Mumbai Indians, Zaheer Khan, has admitted that the franchise needed to strengthen their bowling attack. The decision was taken to bring in Trent Boult and Dhawal Kulkarni through trading was taken from that perspective.

While Mumbai Indians have retained most of their key names including veteran Lasith Malinga, they have traded out Mayank Markande and Siddhesh Lad. Apart from Boult and Kulkarni, West Indian Sherfane Rutherford has also been traded in.

Explaining the rationale behind the moves made during the trading window, Zaheer, in a video posted on Mumbai Indians’ Twitter, said, "We felt that we will need some kind of strength around the bowling department and hence the trades with Delhi and RR."

Zaheer Khan

While stating that the core of the team is very stable, Zaheer added, "We have had some challenges in terms of injuries. Hardik Pandya to start with has had a back surgery. Bumrah has been out of action with back issues and Jason Berehndoff also has had a back surgery. That was one of the concerns, and the trades were a reflection of exactly what was the planning for the upcoming season.”

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What was the idea behind bringing Boult and Kulkarni to #MumbaiIndians?🗣 Find it out from our Director of Cricket Operations, @ImZaheer!#OneFamily #CricketMeriJaan pic.twitter.com/i8FbXLOjf7

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) November 18, 2019

One of India’s leading fast bowlers during his time, Zaheer revealed that MI are also focused on spotting domestic talent. "In terms of domestic talent as well, it has been a trend with MI that we have been spotting and going with domestic talent. But this is going to be the end of the cycle as well.

"The IPL dynamics in terms of big auctions work differently, so there is going to be some more thinking in terms of what direction we should be going in, but it's pretty premature at this stage. The release list is out, so we will have to keep an eye on which are players released from other teams and what are the options. So yes, that process should start very soon now," Zaheer added in the video message.

Players released by Mumbai Indians: Evin Lewis, Adam Milne, Jason Behrendorff, Beuran Hendricks, Ben Cutting, Yuvraj Singh, Barinder Sran, Rasikh Salam, Pankaj Jaswal, Siddhesh Lad (Traded out), Alzarri Joseph, Mayank Markande (Traded out).

Evin Lewis

Pre-auction squad of Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Kieran Pollard, Quinton de Kock, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga, Krunal Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Anmolpreet Singh, Trent Boult (Traded in), Rahul Chahar, Ishan Kishan, Anukul Roy, Dhawal Kulkarni (Traded in), Aditya Tare, Sherfane Rutherford (Traded in), Jayant Yadav.