He has been brilliant with the willow in recent years.
Mumbai Indians (MI) sister franchise, MI Emirates, bought the West Indies wicketkeeper-batter Andre Fletcher for a record USD 260,000 in the ILT20 2025 auction. He became the most expensive player of the event. Several other teams were bidding for Fletcher before the Emirates outbid them and included him for a fourth consecutive season.
Fletcher earning a big bid at 37 tells that he has been doing something impressive. He has indeed been brilliant with the willow in recent years. Despite being a globetrotter, he has become consistent only now, for Fletcher has found a way to score runs regularly while maintaining a high tempo.
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Since 2023, Andre Fletcher has had 2155 runs at an average of 31.69 and a strike rate of 72 innings, including 15 fifties and two centuries. Additionally, he has hit a boundary every 5.20 deliveries. 30.55% of these innings have come outside the opening slot, his natural position, and his numbers at the top are even better.
As an opener, Fletcher has 1666 runs at an average of 34.70 and a 145.37 strike rate in 50 outings, comprising 12 half-centuries and two hundreds. His balls-per-boundary ratio also improves to 4.89. Outside the opening slot, he averages 24.45 and strikes at 122.25 across 22 innings, comprising three fifties.
The work done on consistency, which was missing, is palpable. His average has been above 35 in 2023 and 2025, while his strike rate exceeds 138 in all three years. This, despite playing all around the world, with ample data and videos available to exploit his weaknesses.
In this period, he has featured in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Major League Cricket (MLC), International League T20 (ILT20), Lanka Premier League (LPL), Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), The Hundred, and for the West Indies. Most of these leagues have decent to good bowlers, and conditions vary across tournaments. Still, Fletcher has found success in most of them and has shown the ability to adapt to various situations.
Before 2023, he didn’t have a great time for an extended period. From 2020 to 2022, Fletcher scored 1803 runs at an average of 27.73 and a strike rate of 124.60 in 79 innings, comprising six fifties and two centuries. In 2020 and 2021, his averages were 19.40 and 21.25, respectively, which improved to 43.09 in 2022, but his strike rate remained below 127 throughout.
The biggest change has been in his spin game, and improvements in this aspect have been one of the reasons for his success, especially in leagues like LPL and ILT20. Between 2020 and 2022, he had a mediocre strike rate of 108.88 and a balls-per-boundary ratio of 7.81 against spinners. Additionally, he played 45.03% dot balls in this phase.
However, since 2023, his strike rate and balls-per-boundary ratio have surged to 131.93 and 6.20, respectively. Furthermore, he has cut down dot balls to 38.60%. Obviously, these numbers can still improve, but he has come a long way.
He is mostly a pace hitter, as his strike rate and balls-per-boundary ratio of 144.02 and 4.64 since 2023 suggest. So, if he manages to be decent vs spin, Fletcher can cover it with his hard hitting. In that aspect, the improvement is massive.
Andre Fletcher has been part of the Mumbai Indians franchise in ILT20 for four years and has been pivotal in their success. That suggests he is highly rated and can be in contention for a bid in the IPL 2026 auction. Mumbai Indians need a backup wicketkeeper-batter for Ryan Rickelton.
Not many quality options are available, and Fletcher fits naturally in their lineup. He can open the innings and don the gloves. Rickelton did well last year, but his backups were inexperienced.
His recent form suggests he has been in good nick, and pitches won’t be an issue in IPL. He thrives on flat decks, where he gets value for his shots, and can maximise the field restrictions upfront. Fletcher won’t be too expensive either, and MI will have a decent player who can come at any time and fill the slot.
There are other options, such as Jonny Bairstow and Quinton de Kock, who will likely be released by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). However, if their price becomes high, MI can look for budget picks like Fletcher, who has recently reached new heights in his T20 career. It’s worth giving him his maiden shot in IPL, even if at this stage of his career.
Other teams that can target him are KKR and Gujarat Titans (GT), both of whom require wicketkeeper-batters in their squad. KKR are likely to release Quinton and Rahmanullah Gurbaz, while GT will need a backup for Jos Buttler. Both can target Fletcher if his price remains reasonable.
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