And then there were 25. Eight new picks, and eight diverse skillsets: genuine raw pace, a left-arm seamer, a slinger, an off-spinning all-rounder, a leggie, an upcoming pacer, a leftie batter, a lower-order finisher. Here’s your summary of how the day transpired in Dubai, our buys, what they bring to the table, and their price. Here’s your cheat sheet.

1. Gerald Coetzee: Raw pace and that pumped-up celebration. He’s going to be an absolute sight to watch at the Wankhede. The Boom-Gerald partnership is all set to send shivers down batters’ spine.

2. Dilshan Madushanka: Pace, swing, left-arm. The perfect combo for the Wankhede is here. Remember the India-Sri Lanka contest from the World Cup this year? Remember his fifer? Rohit, Gill, Kohli, Iyer, SKY were foxed! A Sri Lankan bowler pacer in the Blue and Gold, under the tutelage of Lasith Malinga, need we really say more?

3. Shreyas Gopal: It’s a homecoming. A young 21-year-old leggie had his first taste of the IPL in a Mumbai Indians shirt back in 2014, and he’s back now, more experienced, more dangerous.

4. Nuwan Thushara: Slingaaaa Thusharaaaa!! Oh we’ve missed that slingy action at the Wankhede. Not any more!

5. Naman Dhir: A part of Punjab’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy winning squad, he a young lower-order finisher.

6. Anshul Kambhoj: Haryana’s young pace sensation! Tall, accurate and nippy, he’s set the Vijay Hazare Trophy on fire this year, taking his state to the trophy with a truckload of wickets.

7. Mohammad Nabi: A real steal! He bats, he bowls, he fields in the hot zone. An IPL veteran, he’s that overseas spinning all-rounder we needed.

8. Shivalik Sharma: This Baroda lad has been around for a while, having made his First Class debut in 2018. But the 2023 season was one where he broke through and cracked the white-ball game, with his late-order hitting.