Five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) winners Mumbai Indians (MI) remain the most successful side in the league. However, they haven’t tasted much success lately. After winning 5 trophies in 8 years leading up to IPL 2020, they have been knocked out in the league stage in 3 out of the last 4 seasons, including two bottom-placed finishes.
Hardik Pandya – appointed as MI captain last year – will continue in his role, captaining India T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav and his predecessor Rohit Sharma, who is fresh off winning two ICC titles as captain for India since last year’s IPL. Pandya received a hostile reception last year in Mumbai, but there’s likely to be more goodwill for him after his role in two back-to-back tournament victories for India.
MI have retained most of their core, including star pacer Jasprit Bumrah, while also making some impressive recruitments such as Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, Mitchell Santner, Ryan Rickelton, and Will Jacks.
However, they will be sweating over the fitness of talisman Bumrah, who hasn’t played since the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Dec-Jan and is expected to miss at least the initial few games of the tournament. MI will hope that their recruits at the mega auction are enough to make up for what will be a significant hole in the lineup initially.
Squad:
Hardik Pandya ©, Arjun Tendulkar, Ashwani Kumar, Bevon Jacobs, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Karn Sharma, Krishnan Srijith, Mitchell Santner, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naman Dhir, Raj Bawa, Reece Topley, Robin Minz, Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Satyanarayana Raju, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Trent Boult, Vignesh Puthur, Will Jacks
Probable Playing XI:
Rohit Sharma
Ryan Rickelton
Will Jacks
Suryakumar Yadav
Tilak Varma
Hardik Pandya
Naman Dhir
Mitchell Santner
Deepak Chahar
Trent Boult
Jasprit Bumrah
Impact Player options: Corbin Bosch, Karn Sharma, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Key players:
Ryan Rickelton
The South African left-hander is likely to make his IPL debut opening the batting alongside Rohit Sharma. He has an exceptional record for MI Cape Town in the SA20 with 1000+ runs (44 avg, 163 SR). With a Test double-century against Pakistan late last year and a maiden ODI century last month in the Champions Trophy, his career is blossoming, and he will be eager to stake a claim for a long-term future in the IPL.
Trent Boult
The experienced New Zealander returns to MI, who he played for earlier in 2020-21, picking up 38 wickets in 29 matches. He is now a fixture in the MI franchise, having played for MI Emirates (ILT20) and MI New York (MLC) last year, followed by MI Cape Town (SA20). In the absence of Bumrah early on during the season, in particular, Pandya’s side will hope he can bring his experience to the fore and deliver for his side.
Strengths
Middle-order
With a middle order boasting Tilak Varma, SKY, Pandya, and co., MI will be confident regarding the general state of their batting. If Rickelton fires at the top and Rohit continues the good form he displayed last season, MI will have a strong batting lineup to contend with.
Weaknesses
Death bowling
Bumrah’s unavailability is a big blow from every aspect, but possibly the most significant one is MI’s death bowling. Without his experience and skill, Pandya’s side looks light on death-bowling options despite having a variety of good powerplay bowlers.
Fixtures:
March 23: vs Chennai Super Kings
March 29: vs Gujarat Titans
March 31: vs Kolkata Knight Riders
April 4: vs Lucknow Supergiants
April 7: vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
April 13: vs Delhi Capitals
April 17: vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
April 20: vs Chennai Super Kings
April 23: vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
April 27: vs Lucknow Supergiants
May 1: vs Rajasthan Royals
May 6: vs Gujarat Titans
May 11: vs Punjab Kings
May 15: vs Delhi Capitals
As a team, MI aren’t used to extended periods without success, so they are undoubtedly under pressure to put up a better show this time around in the IPL. They will hope to have Bumrah back sooner rather than later, and with him available, they have a squad that is capable of putting up a strong fight for a 6th IPL title.
