Shane Watson, former Australia all-rounder and current Delhi Capitals assistant coach, has criticized Mumbai Indians for paying more over Rs 15 crore on Ishan Kishan in the IPL auction, claiming the gifted opener was “not worth blowing nearly your entire salary on.”

Watson also chastised MI for paying a large fee for an injured Jofra Archer.

MI has been unable to put together a winning combination despite spending Rs 15.25 crore to get Ishan and Rs 8 crore to acquire Jofra Archer, who is still recovering from elbow surgery.

Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, and Kieron Pollard were all retained by the five-time champions.

“It hasn’t shocked me that Mumbai Indians are at the bottom of the standings since they had a dreadful auction,” Watson stated in a podcast.

“Ishan Kishan costing so much money…

He’s a gifted and skilled player, but he’s not worth spending nearly all of your salary on.”

“Then there’s going after Jofra Archer, not knowing if he’ll come back in. He hasn’t played cricket in a long time. They have a lot of flaws in their lineup.”

Chennai Super Kings, the defending champions, had four losses before winning by 23 runs against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

“Now that I’ve seen their five games, the greatest issue with CSK is that they have a hole, especially with their quick bowling,” Watson, who has played for CSK in the IPL, remarked.

“They had Shardul Thakur in prior years. Deepak Chahar has sustained an injury.”

“They paid a lot for him in the auction, but he’ll be unavailable for a significant portion of the tournament, which is a major flaw.”

“They don’t have a Josh Hazlewood-type overseas quick. Previously, they had a world-class overseas quick bowler on hand. That’s why they’re having trouble”, he added.