The auction for the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League will take place on December 19 in Dubai. All ten franchises are gearing up for the mega event and will be busy preparing the list of players they want to target. Amid this, the five-time champion Mumbai Indians have dropped a bomb and appointed Hardik Pandya as their next captain.
Hardik, who was traded in with an all-cash deal from the Gujarat Titans, will replace Rohit Sharma as the captain of MI in the IPL 2024. This has certainly shocked a large number of fans. But will this be the right decision? Only time will tell. However, with Hardik as the new captain, we might see some different tactics from the team as well. Here we will talk about three players whom MI can target with Hardik as a captain.
3 GT-released Players MI can target under Hardik Pandya’s Captaincy
3. Odean Smith
With Kieron Pollard retiring and Cameron Green not part of the team, MI will look to have a decent all-round option for their team. Hardik is likely to bat at No. 4 or 5 and they will need someone who can tonk the ball long. Hence, former GT all-rounder Odean Smith is the one that MI can target at the auction, who can give them the pace-bowling all-round option.
2. Shivam Mavi
Indian pacer Shivam Mavi was the one player who played some games under Hardik Pandya for GT. In fact, he also made his debut for India under Hardik, and he made him play a handful of T20Is. Mavi is part of the auction and is a pretty decent bowler. So we might see MI target him at the IPL 2024 auction.
1. Alzarri Joseph
Alzarri Joseph made headlines when he registered as the best bowling figure in the IPL, playing for MI. But later, he played under Hardik for GT. But the Gujarat franchise has released him. Alzarri is a pretty good bowler to have, and he has played well in his IPL career. So there might be chances that Hardik wants to have him in MI.
