Afghanistan had decided to bowl first, which came out to be very successful. In the power-play, Zimbabwe got reduced to 38/3. Afghanistan team was able to dominate the conditions as the hosts lacked high motive. Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams made an attempt to keep Zimbabwe’s innings safe.

Allah Ghazanfar was the star of the innings as he left Zimbabwe’s batters shocked. Ghazanfar destroyed the middle order and lower order with a five-wicket haul in an incredible 10-over spell. Sean Williams was the only player who made an attempt to show any resistance, but his dismissal sealed Zimbabwe’s downfall. Rashid helped the team bowl out the hosts for just 127 runs.

Afghani batter showed confidence as they chase a mediocre target. Richard Ngarava le Zimbabwe’s pacers to a strong start as he took advantage of the conditions. Abdul Malik held one end of the pitch, whereas, Sediqullah Atal played with confidence and maintained his splendid game.

Afghanistan was in control of the game by the time Malik got dismissed. Rahmat Shah and captain Hashmatullah Shahidi made sure that they made a solid connection and chase down the target. Afghanistan ended the series with a massive 8-wicket victory.

The post Mumbai Indians pick of Rs. 4.80 crore for IPL 2025 auctions takes five-wicket haul: Help Afghanistan secure series against Zimbabwe appeared first on Cricket Country.

The Mumbai-based franchise bought the services of Nadine de Klerk, G Kamalini, Sanskriti Gupta, and Akshita Maheshwari i the auctions, but there was one special player who was the highlight of the team in the auction.

Tamil-Nadu’s star all-rounder G Kamalini came out as the most expensive player for MI, as she won a jackpot of a deal and won a massive amount of Rs. 1.60 crore.

MI had retained 14 players before the mini-auction as they had a budget of Rs. 2.65 crore. The key players including captain Harmanpreet Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Hayley Matthews, and Nat Sciver-Brunt, remain with the squad. As the team will aim to defend the WPL title next year, they have formed a formidable squad without a doubt.

Players bought by MI in WPL 2025 Auction:

1. G Kamalini (IND) – Rs. 1.60 crore
2. Nadine de Klerk (SA) – Rs. 30 lakh
3. Akshita Maheshwari (IND) – Rs. 20 lakh
4. Sanskriti Gupta (IND) – Rs. 10 lakh

MI Full Squad for WPL 2025:
Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Chloe Tryon, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Hayley Matthews, Jintimani Kalita, Natalie Sciver, Pooja Vastrakar, Saika Ishaque, Yastika Bhatia, Shabnim Ismail, Amandeep Kaur, S. Sajana, Keerthana, Nadine de Klerk (Rs. 30 lakh), G Kamalini (Rs. 1.60 crore), Sanskriti Gupta (Rs. 10 lakh), Akshita Maheshwari (Rs. 20 lakh)

The post Mumbai Indians WPL 2025 Auction: Tamil Nadu all-rounder Banks massive Rs. 1.6 crore deal appeared first on Cricket Country.

This is definitely nothing short of a massive blow for the young pacer who just can’t seem to give consistently good performances and thus, eventually ends up getting dropped. This also comes just days after Arjun was bought by the Mumbai Indians for base price of INR 30 lakhs at the IPL auction.

Arjun had a horrible start to the tournament as he ended up conceding 48 runs in 4 overs against Mumbai. He also wasn’t able to perform well with the bat as Goa slumped to defeat.

He did improve a little in Goa’s third match of the tournament against Services where he only gave 19 runs in his 3-over spell, but unfortunately remained wicketless. However, he once again proved to be expensive in the next match against Andhra giving away 36 runs in 3.4 overs.

Goa have not won a single match in the competition till now and with four defeats in as many matches, they are at the sixth spot in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Group E points table.

The post Arjun Tendulkar faces MAJOR setback just days after joining Mumbai Indians at IPL auction appeared first on Cricket Country.

Former India bowler Ashish Nehra talked about Bumrah’s contributions in the first Australia Test and said that the player would have been sold for an incredible fee if he would have entered the IPL auction. Nehra is the coach of IPL franchise Gujarat Titans and was present during the auction as well.

Bumrah was the Mumbai Indians’ (MI) first retention pick ahead of the auction and was given a whopping fee of INR 18 crore. The pacer has been a part of the Mumbai-based franchise since 2013 and has never come under the hammer as MI have always retained his services.

While Bumrah’s value in auction is yet to be discovered, Nehra feels that even a purse of INR 520 crore would not have been enough for teams to buy him.

“As a bowler Jasprit Bumrah has done this numerous times. Rohit Sharma is not playing and you’re captaining the team in the first match in the tour. Obviously there has to be an extra amount of pressure. But the way Bumrah handled the pressure it’s extremely praiseworthy,” Nehra told Star Sports.

“The way Bumrah led the team following the 3-0 whitewash against New Zealand on home soil it’s brilliant to witness. You can’t beat Jassi (Jasprit Bumrah). If Bumrah was in the auction then anything would have happened. Even a purse of 520 crore would have been not enough for the IPL teams,” Nehra added.

The post “Even a purse of…”: India great predicts Jasprit Bumrah’s price at the IPL auction appeared first on Cricket Country.

A lot of Indian key players are in the franchise, including the T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav, India’s Test skipper Rohit Sharma, and one of the best all-rounders Hardik Pandya. MI shared a video on their social media where Pandya can be seen sharing a message for the youngsters which have been taken by the franchise.

𝐀𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐩 ft. 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐤 𝐏𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲𝐚 💙 🤌#MumbaiMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians #TATAIPLAuction | @hardikpandya7 pic.twitter.com/vpyxOE4SVz

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) December 2, 2024

MI took 18 players in the mega auctions, where the uncapped players were Naman Dhir, Robin Minz, and Karn Sharma.

MI squad for IPL 2025:
Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik pandya, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Trent Boult, Naman Dhir, Robin Minz, Karn Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Deepak Chahar, Allah Ghazanfar, Will Jacks, Ashwani Kumar, Mitchell Satnner, Reece Topley, Krishnan Shrijith, Rj Angad Bawa, Satyanarayana Raju, Bevon Jacobs, Arjun Tendulkar, Lizaad Williams, Vignesh Puthur.

The post WATCH: Hardik Pandya gives Motivation to Young Players of Mumbai Indians for IPL 2025 appeared first on Cricket Country.

a’In the mega auction of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, he went unsold at first, but was later taken in by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for his base price of Rs. 75 lakh‘: Now he is ready to give all he has got in the next edition.

“I am really happy to join KKR this season, so excited to don the KKR jersey. I just can’t wait. They are the defending champions, and I am sure they will win another title this season. I am grateful and thankful to them for giving me this chance, confident about getting plenty of opportunities this time with KKR. I am 200 percent fit and raring to go. You will see a different Umran Malik this time. I want to perform well in the IPL and make a comeback to the Indian side. The IPL has been a massive platform for most cricketers, including me,” said Malik.

In the previous edition, he had chance to play just match the. rooms theory o IPL, Rohit said.

“I am going to kill it in IPL 2025. I am confident of taking a number of wickets this time and just want to go out and perform for KKR. Speed gives me a thrill. I am not sure whether I will touch 160, but I am confident I will take plenty of wickets at speeds in the 150s,” he added.

The post ‘Not sure whether I will touch160..’: Umran Malik being ready to join in with KKR in IPL 2025 appeared first on Cricket Country.

 “I’m quite happy. I had hoped to continue with CSK, but no regrets. Now, I’ll be playing for another great franchise that has won five IPL trophies. I’ll obviously miss playing with MS Dhoni. Mumbai Indians is a great franchise, so I’m really looking forward to playing for them,” Chahar said.

“After the last IPL season, I went to the UK for training. I was training with a big football club there. Then, I came back and played five Ranji Trophy matches, bowling about 150 overs. Now, I’m playing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. So, I’ve been playing cricket regularly for the past six months and training well. My main goal is to play for India again. To achieve that, I need to play all 14 matches, perform at my full potential, and hopefully make a comeback for Team India. This is going to be a very important season for me,” Chahar added.

Speaking about his season ahead with MI, Chahar said that the team is quite strong and added that there is a reason why they have won the IPL title for a record 5 times. He also added that he hopes to win more trophies with the side in the future.

“The MI team for this season looks strong. They have always been a dominant side in the history of IPL, and they’ve won five seasons for obvious reasons. I’m happy to be a part of this team and hope to win more trophies in the coming seasons. Also, I’m hoping to get the opportunity to bat as well, as that’s something I didn’t get much chance to do at CSK. So, I’ll definitely look to give my best with both bat and ball,” Chahar said.

The post “Hoped to continue with CSK”: Deepak Chahar gives MASSIVE statement after getting sold to MI appeared first on Cricket Country.

Going with a small purse of INR 45 crore, MI made specific strategy as they bought spinners and pacers.

The franchise had spent INR 75 crore from their total of INR 120 crore in just retaining the 5 key players.

At the time of the auction, the team took certain requirements in consideration, particularly containing their bowling department.

The franchise spent Rs. 75 crore in retaining players before the auction.
an amount of Rs. 44.80 crore was spent by the franchise on the auction.
The team has a purse left of Rs. 20 crore.
There are 23 players out of the 25 that is the maximum limit.
The squad contains 15 Indian players and 8 overseas players.

Players Bought by MI in IPL 2025 Auction:

The post Mumbai Indians IPL 2025 Auctions: Franchise assembles strong Indians, Complete list of players appeared first on Cricket Country.

The MI owner has stated that they are happy with their current position. There are a lot of players who have been bought, and then there are some players who were taken by using the right-to-Match (RTM) card.

“Very happy at this position because we have got our playing 12 locked in now. Happy with all the players we have gotten till now. Of course, disappointed to lose so many ex-Mumbai Indians players. The last three years, we’ve thought a lot about what’s the balance that we truly need to get back to winning ways and for that, you had to balance the emotional aspect of buying players and the skills required in this new T20 game. Very, very disappointed to miss out on a lot of ex-MI players who have given us a lot of success, all the best to all of them for their new franchises but also happy with what we have achieved at MI,” Akash said.

The franchise has Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Robin Minz, Ryan Rickelton, Will Jacks, Shrijith Krishnan, Bevan John Jacobs, and N. Tilak Varma as their batters.

The all-rounding lineup contains Naman Dhir, Karn Sharma, Mitchell Santner, Rajgandha Bawa, Arjun Tendulkar, Vignesh Puthurm and Hardik Pandya.

The bowling lineup includes Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, Allah Ghazanfar, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley, Venkata Satyanarayana Penmetsa, Lizaad Williams, and Jasprit Bumrah.

The post ‘Disappointed to lose…’: Mumbai Indians owner Akash Ambani reacts to the Top picks of franchise in the IPL 2025 Auction appeared first on Cricket Country.

The bowler hasn’t played any match in the Indian Premier League but in the last season, was brought in by the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) as a replacement to another Afghanistan spinner in Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

The 18-year-old has so far only made his debut for the national team in the ODI format where he has played 8 matches. In those matches, he has picked up 12 wickets with his best bowling figures being that of 6/26 against Bangladesh at Sharjah.

Ghazanfar has previously featured in T20 leagues of Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. He has a decent record in T20 cricket, picking up 29 wickets in 16 matches with best figures of 4/12.

The player will definitely be one to watch out for in the upcoming season of the IPL and with the Mumbai-based franchise and he is expected to feature in a lot of matches as he is the costliest spinner that the franchise has bought so far.

The post Who is Allah Ghazanfar? The unknown Afghanistan spinner who fetched MASSIVE price at IPL auction appeared first on Cricket Country.