"They will definitely go after Yuzi Chahal" - Aakash Chopra on Mumbai Indians' requirements in IPL 2025 auction

Aakash Chopra has noted that the Mumbai Indians (MI) need to bolster their bowling department in the IPL 2025 auction. He reckons Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar might be among the spinners the franchise might look to target at the auction.

MI have retained the maximum allowed five capped players ahead of the auction but did not hold on to any uncapped players. They retained three specialist batters in Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma, a seamer in Jasprit Bumrah, and an all-rounder in Hardik Pandya.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener pointed out that the Mumbai Indians have once again assembled a formidable batting lineup but will need to acquire quality bowlers at the auction.

"Their batting has become strong once again. The problem is that they have only one bowler, who is a four-over bank, but you need more bowlers. Bowling let them down last time as well. They used to score runs, 225 to 250, but used to concede that many as well," he said (6:40).

"So they had so much overdependence on the batting to fire and scoring 20-40 runs above par every time is a bit too much. They might have an entire Indian batting lineup and an overseas bowling lineup, with a couple of Indian spinners. They will definitely go after Yuzi Chahal. I don't know whether they will get him or not. They might want to keep Washington Sundar," Chopra added.

With 18 scalps at an economy rate of 9.41 in 15 innings, Chahal was the Rajasthan Royals' second-highest wicket-taker in IPL 2024. Sundar played only two games for the SunRisers Hyderabad this season, scalping a solitary wicket at an economy rate of 14.60.

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"They will go for Ishan Kishan for sure but won't get him" - Aakash Chopra on the Mumbai Indians needing a wicketkeeper-batter

Ishan Kishan aggregated 320 runs at a strike rate of 148.83 in 14 innings for MI in IPL 2024. [P/C: iplt20.com]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra named Ishan Kishan, Quinton de Kock, Jitesh Sharma and Phil Salt as the wicketkeeper-batters the Mumbai Indians might be interested in acquiring.

"They will also need a wicketkeeper-batter. They will go for Ishan Kishan for sure but won't get him. So they might go towards Quinton de Kock because they need a keeper-batter. They might find Jitesh Sharma. They will definitely go towards Phil Salt because they need an opener keeper-batter. Jitesh doesn't fit that slot but then he is also an Indian," he said (7:30).

The cricketer-turned-commentator added that the Mumbai Indians might look for an overseas seam-bowling contingent alongside Jasprit Bumrah.

"So an entire overseas bowling contingent and I have a feeling that overseas bowlers aren't going to earn too much this time. They (MI) are ready for the auction. They have five excellent players with them. They will have to shop properly for the bowlers this time," Chopra observed.

With 20 scalps at an economy rate of 6.48 in 13 innings, Bumrah was the Mumbai Indians' highest wicket-taker in IPL 2024. Gerald Coetzee (13) was the only other specialist seamer to take 10 or more wickets for the five-time IPL champions this season.