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From some more dominance, to the discovery of the SKY dada, to the unearthing of a six-hitting monster in Ishan Kishan, to losing some of our super iconic superstars, and eventually to some rebuilding. The auctions for us, from 2018-22, had us cover an entire spectrum of emotions.

January 27 and 28, 2018 | Bengaluru: We just wouldn’t let the KPs go

With CSK and RR back in the mix after two years, and teams allowed just five retentions and two RTMs, it was some kind of a fresh start for everyone. There was absolutely no way we were letting Kieron Pollard go, as Delhi found out, after successfully snapping him up at the auctions, only for him to be RTMed by us. With Krunal Pandya too, things were heating up to a point where RCB, RR and SRH were involved in a bidding war that saw his price skyrocket 22 times over from his base price of 40 lakhs INR. Nah, we weren’t letting go of him either.

It was here where we re-bought a once-young Mumbai batter who was in our ranks from 2011-13. Suryakumar Yadav, at 3.4cr INR, back in the MI stable, was just the start of him announcing himself as SKY to the world. He started off by becoming our top run-scorer that year. Ishan Kishan, the then 19-year-old, broke the ceiling among the wicket-keepers, and we successfully nudged out CSK and RCB to pocket the pocket dynamo.

December 18, 2018 | Jaipur: Maaalingaaaa, Maaalingaaaa

HE WAS BACK! Our bowling mentor in 2018, had reverse aged, and was back in our squad of 24. Lasith Malinga, after 10 years of togetherness, was our first buy of 2019. And boy, that nerves-of-steel slower dipping, tournament-sealing delivery of his is etched in gold. Those scenes of him on Pollard’s shoulder …

MI then became Yuvraj Singh’s sixth IPL home. Just in terms of expenses, Barinder Sran was our costliest buy of the season. A 19-year-old Anmolpreet Singh, raw and fresh from the under-19 World Cup, who’s since then lit the Indian domestic scene on fire, was also snapped up.

December 19, 2019 | Kolkata: Coulter-Nile kicks off El Classico

So Chris Lynn was the first name to come out of the sack on the morning of this mini auction. We raised a late bid. And just like that, without contest, at his base price of INR 2 crore, he was in our side! Saurabh Tiwary, a 30-year old now, and someone who was first picked up in the MI squad as a 19-year-old fresh from the under-19 World Cup in 2008, was back in our ranks to add to our middle-order experience.

Also, the El Classico bugle was sounded in the auction room itself. We won this round, snapping up Nathan Coulter-Nile after an intense bidding war where only CSK and us battled it out from 1cr INR to 8cr INR. And here’s the icing on the cake: We topped the points table in the league stage, won the first qualifier, won the trophy, and were simply super dominant.

February 18, 2021 | Chennai: An all-bowling pickup!

Straight from MI’s school of unearthing hidden talent was Marco Jansen. At 20 years of age, and at his base price of 20 lakhs INR, we were the only ones who bid for him, and surely enough, he was soon an all-format player for the Proteas. In the first few matches of the 2021 season, it was his pace that caught everybody’s attention, with his ability to bowl at over 140 clicks with a sharp bouncer in his armoury. Nathan Coulter-Nile, a two-time trophy winner with us in 2013 and 2020, was back in our ranks. Another former team of his, Delhi Capitals, weren’t quite letting him go of him without a fight, raising his price to 5 cr INR.

The overall talk of the auction, however, was Chris Morris bagging the costliest IPL deal till date of 16.25 cr INR, and well, we had a fair part to play in it, raising the first bid and sticking around until 13 cr INR.

February 12 and 13, 2022 | Bengaluru: Time to hit the restart button

It was some sort of a forced overhaul with two new teams coming in and just four retentions allowed. In the mega two-day auction that followed, Mumbai Indians were rather dormant through day 1. But come day 2, and come Ishan Kishan, we were relentless in our pursuit. The Punjab Kings backed out at 7.5cr INR, Gujarat Titans hopped in and stayed until 12.50cr INR, and despite the late stretch by SRH, at 15.25cr INR, our pocket dynamo, was ours again!

The super archer, Jofra, was a similar story. Although he was injured and wasn’t set to play the 2022 season, his reputation was enough to create a flutter. Rajasthan Royals, his former franchise, wasn’t letting him go easily, fighting it out till 6.25cr INR, at which point SRH joined the race. But we were adamant, and at 8cr INR, the Bumrah-Archer combo was a reality. Tim David too was snapped up for 8.25cr INR, and we jumped in right at the climax here, stealing him from KKR’s clutches, who were in the battle right from the start. Another such combo realized through the auction was DB-TV, two certain future superstars, and two firm friends off it.