Abhinav Mukund criticizes Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) for not going after the experienced Indian seamer sky lamp At the IPL 2026 mini-auction at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, December 16.
The former India opener believes that the former champions may struggle with the ball inside the powerplay, and the inclusion of Auqib Dar or Akash Deep could solve the problem.
“You have to at least take a chance. Then, your big problem area is your powerplay bowling. They had Harshal and Unadkat, and you had to force Malinga because you needed a new-ball option. I would have heavily favored an ODI for this team. At the end you had so much money. Why didn't you challenge for someone like Akash Deep?” he said on ESPN Cricinfo.
Former India all-rounder and batting coach Sanjay Bangar also believes that Delhi Capitals (DC) is another team that lacks fast bowlers to bowl in the powerplay, yet they acquired the services of Auqib for Rs 8.6 crore.
“The only area he has not been able to strengthen is the new ball attack. Yes Aaqib has done special things in the domestic circuit, but there are some question marks over his bowling abilities at the top and death overs,” he said.
Delhi Capitals can consider themselves lucky to have the services of experienced finisher David Miller at his base price. However, Mukund feels that the South African legend will have to wait for his chance in the playing eleven.
Mukund said, “I don't think Miller will get a place in the team to begin with. I really like the inversion of Porel. Maybe Nitish also drops one number and Stubbs goes there. I think Miller has come as a replacement for Stubbs.”
I think Gujarat is once again counting on its top three Mukund
While Bangar praised Miller and described him as the best buy for DC, he said that Gujarat Titans should have signed the experienced campaigner.
Bangar said, “I think Miller would have fit in well with this team after Rutherford was let go and they also had the money. Miller would have noticed their shortcomings at number four and five. So, maybe it was a miss.”
Mukund, on the other hand, feels that Gujarat will once again depend on their top three batsmen in Sai Sudarshan, captain Shubman Gill and wicketkeeper Jos Buttler to score most of their runs.
“I think Gujarat are once again relying on their top three. It looks like that. My problem with this side is that they have all these young Indian talents knocking on the Indian doors. How do you keep them satisfied by keeping them on the bench?” Mukund asked.
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