Trent Boult adds an invaluable skill by taking that new ball: Mumbai Indians owner Akash Ambani

Jeddah [Saudi Arabia], November 26 (ANI): After the end of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega-auction, Mumbai Indians owner Akash Ambani heaped praise on the New Zealand seamer Trent Boult and said that he will add an invaluable skill by taking the new ball.
Boult was picked up by the Mumbai-based franchise for Rs 12.50 crores at the IPL mega-auction in Jeddah on Sunday
Boult, who has played 104 IPL matches in his career and has 121 wickets, has played a crucial role in MI's success from 2020-21. He has also played for Rajasthan Royals recently and Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders.
Speaking to JioCinema, Akash Ambani said that Boult had hurt MI in the last couple of years when the Kiwi pacer had not played them.
"Boulty and Topley we wanted because they both are left arm seamers, there is a point of difference for us. Of course, we've seen Trent in Mumbai Indians before, he adds an invaluable skill by taking that new ball and swinging it. We've been hurt by him the last couple of years when he has not played for us," Akash Ambani was quoted by the MI Media Team.
MI recruited England's left-armer Reece Topley at Rs 75 lakh. MI opened the bidding for Topley, and that turned out to be the final bid for the English seamer. There was no RTM interest from RCB, which confirmed Topley becoming a part of the MI squad.
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He added that the team management is thinking of using both spinners Mitchell Santner and Allah Ghazanfar in the first eleven in the upcoming season.
"Every time I used to watch auction reviews, they used to say Mumbai Indians only lacks in the spin department. We would have loved the Indian spinners but they were too expensive. In certain venues and against certain opposition, we are imagining playing both Santner and Allah," he added.
New Zealand's Mitchell Santner joined the Mumbai-based franchise during the IPL 2025 mega-auction. Coming in at the base price of Rs 2 crore, MI started the bidding for NZ's premier white-ball spinner. No other franchise showed interest, which confirmed his switch to Wankhede.
Several international spinners were left unsold while young Afghanistan spinner Allah Ghazanfar was picked up by Mumbai Indians (MI) for Rs 4.80 crore.
The 18-year-old made his debut for Afghanistan recently. He got a six-wicket haul on his debut and has 12 wickets in eight ODIs so far. The youngster attracted bids from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). While RCB gave up early, KKR went deep in the bidding war, but he was eventually acquired by Mumbai Indians. (ANI)