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After horror IPL 2022 start, McClenaghan wants Mumbai Indians to 'take a pop' at getting star ENG all-rounder next year
Former MI star Mitchell McClenaghan seems to be already looking ahead already as he wants the franchise to rope in England all-rounder in the next auction.
Mumbai Indians (MI) chance of a qualification in the playoffs for the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) season look bleak after the five time winners of the IPL trophy suffered their fourth straight loss this season. While fans are still hoping for a turnaround given that Mumbai had won the trophy in 2015 IPL from a similar position, former MI star Mitchell McClenaghan seems to be looking ahead already as he wants the franchise to rope in England all-rounder in the next auction.
McClenaghan, who played for Mumbai between 2015 and 2019, feels that the franchise should go after England's Ben Stokes in the next auction.
“Do Mumbai take a pop at Getting stokes next year? How much would you need in the kitty to secure his services in the auction?” he tweeted.
Stokes had made his IPL debut in 2017 for presently-defunct team Rising Pune Supergiants where he had ended the season as the Most Valuable Player. In the following edition, he was roped in for a record INR 12.50 crore by Rajasthan Royals where he had a decent 2019 and 2020 before missing out on the action in 2021 owing to an injury. He was slated for an IPL return in 2022, but opted out of the auction in the last minute.
“It was a bitterly disappointing Ashes campaign Down Under, but we have to learn from it and begin the job of building the team back to where we want to be. It will take time, of course it will. Even the white-ball team took time to get to the point where we could win a World Cup.
And we need to go on a similar journey with the Test team now, with everyone involved 100 percent committed to doing what is necessary to improve and be among the best teams again. I want to work alongside Joe Root, the best man we could have as captain, to get us there. Test cricket is absolutely my number one priority,” Stokes had written in his Daily Mirror column.
“It is why I thought long and hard about whether to go to the IPL or not, and felt that this was not about the money but about where my priorities are. It wouldn’t be fair on any team I signed up for if I wasn’t totally focused on things out there.
I think the Test side will benefit more from me playing a number of County Championship matches this summer and getting myself as best prepared as possible for the challenges of New Zealand and South Africa,” he added.
