Did MI compromise with their bowling attack to pick Jofra Archer?

Jofra Archer was an interesting investment in this mega auction as he already had stated his unavailability for IPL 2022 but did put his name up among the buyers. The speedster created an intense bidding war between three franchises and landed in the Mumbai Indians squad for INR 8 crore.

Mumbai Indians haven’t started their campaign in IPL 2022 well, and with three losses already, there are a lot of loopholes that can be seen in the team. They have been forced to play Daniel Sams as he provides little more with the bat while the rest of the four bowlers do not bat much. Kieron Pollard is the only all-rounder in the top six who can chip in with some overs and it has massively affected their balance so far.

Mumbai has always had more as many as six options with the ball in the previous seasons and they have batted deep which hasn’t been the case this year. Apart from Murugan Ashwin, the other bowlers have travelled a lot already and even the best of the lot, Jasprit Bumrah, is feeling the pressure with not much support around.

When it comes to Indian bowlers, Mumbai Indians have given chances to Basil Thampi who hasn’t made much of a mark yet and they have the only option to go in with Jaydev Unadkat from the bench while the other seamers are relatively inexperienced. When it comes to overseas options, Riley Meredith with his raw pace can come in at the expense of Sams, but it weakens their batting lineup.

Certainly, Rohit has a lot to ponder about already and the carnage from Pat Cummins in the game against KKR was a reality check for the Mumbai Indians of the way they have structured their bowling set up this year. Although it is early days to judge, Mumbai will definitely look back at their auction strategy of saving money for Archer which did look like a big gamble and should have rather gone for two experienced proven customers for the same money.