'When you've bought someone for 8.25 crore, surely he's capable of playing more than just 2 games': Jaffer slams MI's XI

IPL 2022: Former India opener Wasim Jaffer has slammed Mumbai Indians' team composition and raised a point over the exclusion of all 4 overseas players from the Playing XI.

For five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians, the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League has been like a nightmare. Having lost their first five matches in a row, Rohit Sharma's team is languishing at the bottom of the points-table and are in desperate need of a win. The only other time MI lost their opening five matches in a season was in 2014, but with 10 teams playing the tournament this time around, Mumbai Indian will find it extremely tough to stage a comeback.

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma and coach Mahela Jayawardene. (Mumbai Indians. )

One of the strangest aspects about MI's campaign this season is that they have constantly not filled all the four overseas players positions. In fact, in the previous two matches, MI have included only two foreigners in Dewald Brevis and Kieron Pollard.

"When you've bought someone for 8.25cr, surely he's good enough to play more than a couple of games. Really surprised to see MI not showing faith in Tim David," Jaffer tweeted after MI’s 12-run defeat to Punjab Kings in Pune.

David, the Singapore all-rounder, was picked for a hefty sum of ₹8.25 crore during the IPL 2022 mega-auction in February, but has played only two matches for MI so far. During MI's first game against Delhi Capitals, David scored 12 runs and in the game against the Rajasthan Royals was dismissed for 1. Ever since, David has warmed the bench as even as MI have been struggling to nail the idea Playing XI. Among notable overseas players, the likes of Riley Meredith and Fabian Allen are yet to get a game, while Australian Daniel Sams was dropped after bleeding 50 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders.