IPL Auction 2020 | Mumbai Indians pleased with Nathan Coulter-Nile, admits Akash Ambani
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Akash Ambani expressed his delight over the signings of Australian cricketers Nathan Coulter-Nile (9 crores) and Chris Lynn (2 crores). While the Mumbai Indians went into a bidding war with the Chennai Super Kings for the Australian pacer, they signed Lynn for only his base price.
While pacers such as Kesrick Williams and Mustafizur Rahman went unsold, their counterparts Nathan Coulter-Nile and Sheldon Cottrell were sold for big bucks. In particular, Coulter-Nile was amidst a bidding war between the Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians. Starting at the base price of one crore, both the franchises went head to head up until the 9 crore barrier before the Super Kings pulled the plug on the pacer.Â
The franchise was heavily criticised for the purchase of the Australian and was deemed too costly a buy in the Auction. However, following the auction, Mumbai Indianâs owner Akash Ambani admitted that buying the Coulter-Nile was always in their plans. Further, he said that Chris Lynn filled in an important slot for the franchise and getting him at the base price of 2 crores was a steal for them.Â
âWe had identified the seven slots that we wanted to fill. It was very critical for us to get Lynn and Coulter-Nile,â he said.Â
Further, Nita Ambani emphasised on the purchase of the Australian pacer by admitting that pacers do win games. In the 2019 IPL Finals, Mumbai Indians narrowly defeated CSK by a margin of one run, thanks to the exploits from Lasith Malinga in the final over.Â
âYes. We were looking to buy fast bowlers. Bowlers win you matches. Honestly, we are thrilled⌠I believe we have all bases covered. Whatever we came looking for, I think we have covered all those points,â Nita said.Â
Saurabh Tiwary, who last played for the Mumbai franchise returned home with the sole bid from MI. During his last stint with the franchise, Tiwary had scored 52 runs in the only game he played in the 2017 IPL.Â
âOf course Saurabh Tiwary has been with us. His last scores for Mumbai Indians has been three fifties. We are well set and very happy with our buys. I think some of them are steals at base price. We had never accounted them to go for a base price because they were of course capped players and very happy with them,â Akash concluded.Â
