Tm

Team Mumbai will be led by Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar in the Twenty20 Championship. Sachin also happens to be the Icon Player of the team. Lalchand Rajput, the former Manager of the Indian Cricket Team will coach this starstudded side. The rights for the Mumbai franchise were purchased by the Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries Limited through its subsidiary Reliance Retail Ltd. It was purchased for a whopping $111.9 million during the auction on January 24, 2008. This consequently made the Mumbai the most expensive franchise in Championship. The team logo is the Sudharshan Chakra and team colour is blue. Through the player auction, Mumbai fruitfully bid for 7 players. This includes two of the heroes of Indian Twenty20 World Cup side in Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa. Sanath Jayasuriya was also another high-quality catch, alongside South African veteran Shaun Pollock. Flamboyant Sri Lankan speedster Lasith Malinga was also added to the team. Outside of the player auction, the franchise has also signed up Ajinkya Rahane and Abhishek Nayar (both from Mumbai), Yogesh Takawale (wicketkeeper-batsman from Maharashtra) and Pinal Shah (wicketkeeper-batsman from Baroda). Delhi's Ashish Nehra and Western Australia's striking wicketkeeper-batsman Luke Ronchi are two priceless assets added to the Mumbai outfit. Saurabh Tiwary and Manish Pandey, the stars of the ICC Under-19 World Cup winning team were the chance picks drafted in through the second auction. There will be high expectations from the Mumbai setup as it is also the home-team of Sachin Tendulkar who will play the role of skipper. Being the costliest franchise, the Mumbai team will look to prove their worth and mettle.