Indian Premier League Auction 2016: Mumbai Indians owner Nita Ambani Satisfied With Team Picks
Mumbai Indians owner Nita Ambani said they has already retained 19 players and the auction was all about filling the gaps
- Press Trust of India
- Updated: February 06, 2016 09:46 PM IST
Mumbai Indians team owner Nita Ambani on Saturday said they went for bidding with "serious intention" of buying in the IPL players' auction and added the franchise wanted to back those who delivered last year. (IPL Auction 2016: Shane Watson Most Expensive Buy, Pawan Negi Costliest Indian)
"The team went for bidding with the sincere intention of buying players, not otherwise. Our intention was always to bid for players, but for our bad luck we could not have some of them after we had researched on them for last seven months," she said. (Highlights)
Australia's veteran all-rounder Shane Watson emerged as the biggest draw going for a whopping Rs 9.50 crore but it was young uncapped all-rounder Pawan Negi who turned heads with a mind-boggling deal of Rs 8.50 crore to be the costliest Indian buy in an otherwise low-key auction here today.
Responding to a query on why players like Mike Hussey and Tillakratne Dilshan were not considered for bidding in spite of their good show in Big Bash League, Ambani said they looked at the gaps which were supposed to be filled in some categories after having retained her important players for the season.
"If you are talking about Mumbai Indians, we retained the 19 players and then went about filling the gaps - what we needed in our team. So, we actually looked at the gaps and found adequate player and filled those gaps," she said.
IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said as this was not a mega auction, the franchise owners filled the gaps.
"This is not a mega auction. They were filling the gaps. According to their scheme of things each franchise picked them (players) up. That does not mean they are bad and their performance have gone down," he said.
Asked about losing Dwyne Smith and Glen Maxwell among others, Ambani said they have learnt to stick to players and were happy to have two players - Hardik Patel and Jaspreet Bumrah - who have been picked up in the Indian squad.
"I think every year is a new learning and this year we have learnt to hold on. We have a Hardik and a Bumrah who are our domestic finds and now playing for team India which is a great pride for all of us," she said.
"If you see Mumbai Indians, their core strength - they all remained the same for many years now," she added.
Ambani said the team wanted to back those players who delivered last year. "We wanted to back our players who have delivered last year and we wanted to show confidence in them," she said.