Kieron Pollard & Krunal Pandya are back in MI colours, as we exercised our ‘Right to Match’ cards over the duo on Day 1 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) auction. We also bought a combination of two lethal bowlers, a batsman who hails from Mumbai and a young wicket-keeper batsman. In all, we purchased 6 players and spent INR 31.2 Crores on Day 1 of the auction and our squad has 9 strong members in it.

The day began with the list of marquee players that were identified by VIVO IPL. We lifted our paddle for the first time when Kieron Pollard’s name came in. However, we stepped back once the bidding wars took flight between other teams. Once the bidding reached 5.4 Cr., Kieron Pollard was sold, and we usurped him with our Right to Match card. Pollard has been part of our fold since 2010 and has made several match-winning contributions through the years. He has seen the team lift five trophies in all – 3 IPL and 2 CLT20.

When Ajinkya Rahane’s name came up, we went for the local hero! However, we didn’t go all the way, and Rajasthan Royals eventually exercised their RTM card to get Rahane back. The Marquee player list saw a lot of RTMs by various teams, with Kings XI Punjab being quite aggressive early in the auction.

We tried our best to get Dwayne Bravo back in blue, with MI being the first IPL team he played for. The all-rounder comes with supreme skills in all three departments of the game, and it was no surprise that Chennai Super Kings opted to use their RTM card on the West Indian all-rounder.

With a wicket-keeper’s spot to fill, we went in for KL Rahul’s services. The bidding for Rahul reached great heights as several teams entered the bidding tussle. He went on to become the joint most expensive buy in the auction, among Indian players. He was eventually purchased by KXIP, for a whopping 11 Cr.

David Miller was also considered by our think tank, and we initiated the bidding for the South African big-hitter. Miller was a hot favourite, having hit the joint-fastest T20I century a few months ago. However, the RTM card played spoilsport once again, as KXIP had him back.

Our focus moved to Chris Lynn, another hard-hitting batsman, from Australia. With the ability of changing the game right at the top of the order, Lynn’s services could have been fruitful at the relatively small, Wankhede stadium. KKR wanted him back though, and spent 9.6 Cr, buying him back.

Like KL Rahul, teams went gaga over Manish Pandey as well. We entered the bidding war briefly to have the ex-MI batsman back in our flanks, but things sky rocketed and Pandey was eventually seized by SRH for 11 Cr. KKR had pondered hard over using the RTM card on Pandey, but chose not to.

Our table was at the centre of the bidding when Kiwi hard-hitter, Colin Munro’s name came up. The only batsman with three T20I tons to his name, Munro was hot property leading into the auction, and was eventually bought by Delhi.

The wicket-keeper category was up after the hour-long lunch break. We stepped forward to invest in Quinton de Kock and former MI glove-man, Dinesh Karthik. However, both formidable wicket-keeper batsmen slipped through our hands.

We showed avid interest in another former MI star, in Robin Uthappa. The bidding was in our favour right at the end. We were all set to claim Uthappa, but KKR decided to turn in their RTM card for their opener-cum-wicket-keeper.

We continued bidding for wicket-keepers like Sanju Samson and Ambati Rayudu, the former of who was part of our squad since 2010. However, things didn’t go our way and we couldn’t buy either of them. We tried to get Jos Buttler back in blue as well, but had to settle on letting him go.

We found some good signings in the next set – pace bowlers! First up, we went hard for Bangladesh’s left-arm pacer, Mustafizur Rahman, who was vital to Sunrisers Hyderabad during their title-winning season in 2016. At 2.2 Cr., we got the lanky quick at a bargain price. The ‘Fizz’, as he is commonly nick-named, Rahman is an asset with the new ball and can bamboozle batsmen with his variations at the death too.

Moments after we bought Mustafizur, we channelled our interests towards Australian quick, Pat Cummins. The bidding got tougher for Cummins, but we had the last say at 5.4 Cr. Cummins has been in prime form for the Aussies and has been in great fitness since his return to international cricket, last year. His pace can come in handy at any stage of the game, and we are glad to have him on board.

In came the spinners’ turn to get picked at the auction. Karn Sharma was someone who performed well at MI last season, and we wanted to have him back however Karn was eventually bought by Chennai Super Kings. Showing interest for Kuldeep did not prove fruitful either as KKR went on to use their RTM card.

KKR got Kuldeep back, but couldn’t retrieve Suryakumar Yadav’s services. After a bidding wrangle with the Knights, we managed to bring Suryakumar Yadav to the team that hails from his hometown, Mumbai. We finalised the smart batsman for 3.2 Cr.

On the brink of the Tea break, we went after Prithvi Shaw, another local boy from Mumbai. After staying in the hunt briefly, we decided to let the Indian Under-19 captain go, and he was purchased by the Daredevils.

We had one more RTM card left in our pocket, and we waited for this name to come up – Krunal Pandya. Teams went helter-skelter for the dangerous all-rounder. The bidding war was quick and fierce, and ended at 8.8 Cr. Once the war settled down, we came out with the RTM card, to reunite both the brothers, Hardik & Krunal under our roof. Krunal had played a major role in the final last year, when the chips were down and when we needed a total to defend.

We tried to get Nitish Rana back in the MI camp, but his exploits from last season prompted some aggressive bids resulting in him being taken by KKR for 3.4 Cr. We couldn’t get this youngster, but went on to bring Ishan Kishan to MI. Bidding got quite intense with the likes of SRH and RCB showing interest. RCB stuck around till the end, but we got the former Under-19 captain for 6.2 Cr.

We looked to add some strong back-up to our pace attack. Some noteworthy Indian pacers came up, late in the day, and we tried to capture a couple of them. However, the tide didn’t turn in our direction and Ishan Kishan proved to be our final buy on Day 1.

Our core was set when we retained skipper, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya & Jasprit Bumrah. We used our RTM cards wisely over Kieron Pollard & Krunal Pandya to extend the core. Now, we have to build a formidable squad around them. We took the right steps on Day 1, and have to continue buying smartly on Day 2 as well.