Mumbai, Feb 12 (IANS): As Ishan Kishan became the second-most expensive Indian player in the history of IPL after being picked by Mumbai Indians for a whopping INR 15.25 crore, former all-rounder Irfan Pathan on Saturday said that the franchise is looking at the wicketkeeper-batter as a long-term prospect.

"He has the potential to be the future captain as well, not right now. They still have Keiron Pollard who can lead, Bumrah who is a leader himself, they have Suryakumar Yadav who could be the prospect for leadership as well.

"So, they want to invest for the next 5-7 years, that's why they went after Ishan Kishan so clearly and they knew that no matter what we needed to go back to Ishan Kishan," Pathan said on Star Sports' show 'Cricket Live - IPL Auction Special'.

"I haven't seen in the Auction table, Mumbai Indian talking so much and taking a longer break than this in my history of this Auction list," he added.

Kishan overtook Shreyas Iyer, who was picked for INR 12.25 crore, to become the most expensive buy of the ongoing auction so far.

Apart from Kishan, Sri Lanka leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga and West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran landed paychecks above INR 10 crore in the third round.