IPL is back and how? It is bigger & better this time. After the mega auctions, teams are well balanced and are hunting for glory. If there’s one tournament that any cricket player dreams to win when it comes to league cricket, it is the biggest spectacle of them all: Indian Premier League which is known to be the grandest carnival in the business. It is that time of the year when fans are taken through a roller coaster ride of emotions, where tea turns cold, phones are left off the hook and dinners are left uncooked.
Today, we talk about the best team in the competition since IPLs inception. Mumbai Indians. This is not just a team; this is a brand. A brand which was started by the cricket god himself Sachin Tendulkar who named this team as Mumbai Indians. Initially the team didn’t have the success it was expected to have but once Rohit Sharma arrived at the helm, there was no looking back for Mumbai Indians. They have won 5 IPLs until now and are one of the most successful team of the competition. They have had legends play for them like Tendulkar, Jayasuriya, Pollock and Ricky Ponting but it was Rohit Sharma who brought the best out of this team. It remains to be seen how they fare in the 18th edition of the competition.
Auction Report:
This was one of the best auctions Mumbai could have asked for. They had retained their core in Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Surya Kumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Verma. With the Indian core sorted, they just had to plug in the gaps to make this a formidable unit. They got Will Jacks and Ryan Rickelton who can smash the ball all around the ground with ease.
In the bowling front, they managed to get Allah Ghazanfar who is unfortunately ruled out of the IPL with injury, but they have roped in Mujeeb as his replacement who is a good powerplay bowler too. The best scoop of the auction was they managed to get back Boult from Rajasthan Royals and Deepak Chahar from Chennai which makes their bowling very strong. Boult, Bumrah, Chahar is a dream combo any team would love to have. They have added in Mitchell Santner who is a veteran himself and can fox any opponent on the flattest of batting tracks.
Mumbai would be happy with themselves at how they have gone about their business when it comes to filling in the gaps during the auction. They have managed to add the much-needed fire power too.
Players to watch out for:
Rohit Sharma:
You can never go past Rohit Sharma when you start talking about Mumbai Indians. He is the face of the franchise and has played a pivotal role in bringing the franchise to where it is now. Delivered them their first title in his first season as Captain and since then has delivered 4 more titles. He has been instrumental in taking Mumbai Indians to what it is now. He is a street-smart captain, has taken some audacious decision on his route to 5 IPL titles with this team. He is coming back to 2 ICC title wins in the last 8 months. His confidence must be sky high and would love to end the season with an IPL trophy. If he manages to give the starts, he has been giving for Team India, there’s no stopping Mumbai Indians this season. They might just end up winning their 6th title. This year he won’t have the added responsibility of being a captain, he can certainly go hammer and tongs after the bowling right from the word go.
Trent Boult:
Bumrah is unfit for the initial few weeks which would mean that onus is on Trent Boult to do the damage in the powerplay, if at all, Mumbai has to stay in contention for semis berth until Bumrah arrives. Last time when Boult played for Mumbai Indians, they went on to win the title in 2020. How can we forget his burst at the top in 2020 IPL finals when he knocked over dangerous Marcus Stoinis facing the first ball of the game. Mumbai fans will be hoping for Trent to repeat the magic he has been doing for the past few years for other teams and New Zealand.
Mumbai Indians Likely & the best 11:
It is a no brainer. At least 8 players pick themselves in the 11.
Our prediction
Predicted Playing XI
Rohit Sharma
Ryan Rickelton
Tilak Varma
Suryakumar Yadav
Robin Minz
Hardik Pandya (C)
Mitchell Santner
Deepak Chahar
Jasprit Bumrah
Trent Boult
Karn Sharma
Impact Player: Will Jacks / Naman Dhir
Our prediction:
We think Mumbai Indians can go all the way this season. There is no question whatsoever about their batting. Once Bumrah comes back and if at all Deepak Chahar manages to keep himself fit, Mumbai Indians can win their 6th title. They have plugged the gaps very well this season. Mumbai Indians are on course to do a double after what Mumbai Indians women’s team did last week.
