Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has said that Mumbai Indians could be gunning for Australian pace duo of Pat Cummins and Mitchell Stars in the upcoming IPL mini-auction, set to be held on December 19.

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Speaking to Star Sports, Manjrekar said Mumbai Indians could be gunning for Stars and Cummins in the upcoming mini-auction. MI recently brought in Hardik Pandya from Gujarat Titans while sending Cameron Green to Royal Challengers Bangalore.

“With Australia’s recent triumph (in the ODI World Cup), you will see a lot of the Australian players, especially people like Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc. So Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc could be two bowlers that Mumbai Indians would be gunning for. Pace bowling-wise, maybe a little short. So they might want to have another overseas option,” said Manjrekar.

He went on to say that he expects MI to go hard at Cummins and Starc, adding that they might also look to get an opener in. World Cup-winning Australian stars including Travis Head, Cummins and Starc will all be part of the auction. All three of them have set their base price at Rs 2 crore, according to reports.

“They have got about 17.5 crores. So I expect them to go hard at Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc. Also, I think somewhere at the top because Cameron Green used to bat at the top of the order and be an exciting option at No. 3 or open. They might want to have an opener as well as an option,” Manjrekar added.

Notably, the deadline for the retention of players was on Sunday, November 26 with teams actively releasing players. The trade window is still open and will close only on December 12, a week before the mini-auction. This will be the first time the auction will be held overseas.