Akash Chopra on the acquisition of THIS Mumbai Indians player: 'Witnessing the emergence of a refined version of Mujeeb Ur Rahman'

New Delhi: Aakash Chopra praises Mumbai Indians (MI) for making a brilliant move by acquiring Allah Ghazanfar in the IPL 2025 auction. He expressed disappointment in Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for not valuing the Afghanistan spinner enough and letting him go at a low price.

Mumbai Indians secured Ghazanfar for ₹4.80 crore in a bidding battle with Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders. They also made significant picks with Trent Boult (₹12.50 crore) and Deepak Chahar (₹9.25 crore).

In a video on his YouTube channel ‘Aakash Chopra,’ the former India opener expressed that RCB made a mistake by allowing Ghazanfar and Will Jacks to join MI.

“Who is Allah Ghazanfar?

He is an Afghanistan bowler. There was a match in Sharjah where Bangladesh were 132/3 and were all out for 143. He took six wickets while conceding 26 runs. They were playing for the incoming ball when the ball was going away and vice versa. He is a quality player,” he said (7:25).
“I see a slightly upgraded version of Mujeeb Ur Rahman in him. The action is similar, but he is slightly more accurate. He is slightly quicker in the air, and it seems like people are finding it difficult to read him at the moment. He is a steal. I felt RCB wouldn’t let him go. RCB’s loss is Mumbai’s gain, as was the case with Will Jacks,” Chopra added.

In addition to Ghazanfar, Mumbai Indians also purchased Mitchell Santner for ₹2 crore as an overseas spinner. Meanwhile, RCB’s squad features only one recognized specialist spinner, Suyash Sharma.

Mumbai Indian full squad list for IPL 2025

Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Trent Boult (Rs. 12.50 crore), Naman Dhir (Rs. 5.25 crore), Robin Minz (Rs. 65 lakh), Karn Sharma (Rs. 50 lakh), Ryan Rickelton (Rs. 1 crore), Deepak Chahar (Rs. 9.25 crore), Allah Ghazanfar (Rs. 4.80 crore), Will Jacks (Rs. 5.25 crore), Ashwani Kumar (Rs. 30 lakh), Mitchell Santner (Rs. 2 crore), Reece Topley (Rs. 75 lakh), Krishnan Shrijith (Rs. 30 lakh), Raj Angad Bawa (Rs. 30 lakh), Satyanarayana Raju (Rs. 30 lakh), Bevon Jacobs (Rs. 30 lakh), Arjun Tendulkar (Rs. 30 lakh), Lizaad Williams (Rs. 75 lakh), Vignesh Puthur (Rs. 30 lakh).