Watch: "Openers are fixed and..."- Mohammed Kaif trolls Gautam Gambhir in Star Sports mock auction 2026

On the eve of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 mini auction, Star Sports participated in a mock auction where various notable players selected their favorite franchise. The former middle-order batter, Mohammed Kaif, who was part of the coaching staff of Delhi Capitals in the past, decided to sign David Miller for the side.

Miller, the left-handed lower-order batter of the South Africa side, was bought by the Capitals for a price of INR 9.50 crore. Mohammed Kaif reckoned that his plan would be to slot Miller in the lower order, given the veteran could be effective with the big shots in the small ground of Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

See Also: “I kept trying to go..” - Jake Fraser-McGurk opens upon six-hitting pressure in IPL ahead of BBL 15

“I have decided to give Donovan Ferreira to the Rajasthan Royals. So, in terms of the players, we needed an opener, and that’s why we decided to sign Prithvi Shaw. And we were looking for a finisher for which we decided to go with David Miller on the small ground of Delhi. I think he will be really effective there.” Kaif expressed in the Star Sports mock auction.

Mohammad Kaif trolls Gautam Gambhir’s statement

After the completion of the mock-auction, Kaif was asked to comment on where Miller would bat in the line-up, to which the former player reckoned that the openers would remain fixed with a flexible batting order for the rest of the line-up. This was echoed by the same statement Gautam Gambhir, the Indian head coach, made in his press conference.

Watch the video here: 

“Openers’ positions are fixed, but the others are flexible. We will just see the combination of a right and left-handed opening batter combo.” Said Kaif, who also signed Prithvi Shaw for a price of INR 2.75 crore. He also bagged the services of Lungi Ngidi for a price of INR 6.5 crore.

Apart from those, Cameron Green was the biggest buy of the mock auction for a price of INR 30.50 crore, while Liam Livington went to Lucknow Super Giants for a price of INR 19 crore. Matheesha Pathirana went to the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a price of INR 13 crore.