IPL 2018 Team Preview: Mumbai Indians – Strengths, Weaknesses, Key Stats, Squad and Probable XI

Mumbai Indians are arguably one of the most successful franchises of the Indian Premier League. Poised on the precipice, the only team to have lifted the IPL trophy thrice, MI would again be returning all guns blazing as defending champions in the upcoming eleventh edition of the IPL with Rohit Sharma again as their skipper.

As they return with a balanced team in the eleventh edition of the cash-rich tournament, it can be said that the Blue brigade knows what it takes to be a champion and they would be aiming high this season too.

Owner: Mukesh Ambani, Nita Ambani (Reliance Industries)

Captain: Rohit Sharma

Coach: Mahela Jayawardene

With the glamour-laden tournament back in town from 7 April 2018 let’s have a look at the strengths, weaknesses, squad and the probable XI of the Mumbai Indians.

 Strengths:

Mumbai Indians managed to keep their core team alive by retaining skipper Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah and they applied the right-to-match (RTM) cards for getting Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard at the IPL auction. A smart move indeed!

After this, they went on to build their squad with ferocious bowlers, all-rounders and batsmen to gain a competitive edge in the tournament.

All-rounders like Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya form the backbone of the Mumbai Indians squad. The trio possesses the big-hitting abilities and they can be handy with the ball as well. This might help Mumbai Indians have the last laugh!

Mumbai Indians have their left arm-seamers, Mustafizur Rahman and Pradeep Sangwan who significantly strengthen the bowling side.  Apart from them, Australia’s Pat Cummins can also trouble the batsmen with his spells.  Moreover, they have also bid for West Indies batting sensation Evin Lewis, who could probably come up as a breakthrough of the season.

Thus, this season where the likes of JP Duminy, Rohit Sharma and Evin Lewis might bring depth to their batting order; domestic prodigies like Surya Kumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan might also thrill the audience with their impressive knocks. And Jasprit Bumrah under the guidance of bowling coach Lasith Malinga could be the trump card of the team.

Weaknesses:

Mumbai Indians might regret letting go spinner Harbhajan Singh this season. As Bhajji would be swearing allegiance to Chennai Super Kings in the eleventh edition, it might add to the troubles of the MI squad.

Mumbai Indians lack two things that might prove fatal for them. One, this season MI would be taking on their rivals sans their highest wicket-taker Lasith Malinga which means they’ll be banking on the suave bowling skills of Mitchell McClenaghan. However, the kiwi paceman hasn’t played international cricket for a while and if he is not in good shape, Mumbai will lack the pace attack.

Two, they might choose to rely on the likes of Rahul Chahar for shaping their bowling and they might ask Ishan Kishan to don the gloves. Which, again, is nothing short of a risk.

Jasprit Bumrah obviously will be a savage who could devastate the batting order for the side, but putting too much pressure on him won’t be fair on his part. And, Mumbai Indians need to find a solution to this problem if they want to ride the big stack of victory yet again.

Key Stats:

Squad:

Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Mustafizur Rehman, Pat Cummins, Suryakumar Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Rahul Chahar, Evin Lewis, Saurabh Tiwary, Ben Cutting, Pradeep Sangwan, JP Duminy, Mitchell McClenaghan, Tajinder Singh Dhillon, Sharad Lumba, Siddesh Lad, Tare, Mayank Markande, Akila Dhananjaya, Anukul Roy, Mohsin Khan, Nidheesh

Probable XI:

Evin Lewis, Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Surya Kumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Rahul Chahar, Pat Cummins, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah

Mumbai Indians head coach Mahela Jayawardene and skipper Rohit Sharma need to apply their best tactics and strategies to sail through the tournament.  They need to try and experiment with their bowling attack and rely on their batting strength to reach the knockouts.

And as they say it- “May the best performers Win!”