Mumbai Indians aim to continue old dominance in new era under Pandya

IPL 2023 finish: 4th (lost in Qualifier 2 versus Gujarat Titans)

New additions: Hardik Pandya, Gerald Coetzee, Romario Shepherd, Mohammad Nabi, Dilshan Madushanka, Nuwan Thushara, Shreyas Gopal, Shivalik Sharma, Anshul Kamboj, Naman Dhir

It’s not just a new season but the start of a new era for Mumbai Indians, who, starting this season, will be led by Hardik Pandya. 

Prior to the auction, Pandya was controversially traded from Gujarat Titans, and then the MI management doubled down on the trade by making him the skipper. The move upset a vast majority of MI fans, who were understandably furious that the Rohit Sharma captaincy era came to a rather abrupt end. 

But these are still exciting times for the Paltans, for they are far more balanced and stronger than they were last season. With Jasprit Bumrah also back, fully fit and available, there’s little doubt that MI start IPL 2024 as one of the pre-tournament favourites. 

What can win them the trophy?

The brilliance of Bumrah & x-factor in the pace department

There are not many players in the world capable of single-handedly carrying their side to the final, but Jasprit Bumrah is one of them. Mumbai sorely missed him last season but he’s back — and he’s bowling as good as he ever has. 

The Bumrah factor alone, then, can potentially win MI the title, but at the auction table, the five-time champions further beefed up their pace attack by snapping up three more x-factor speedsters in different stages of their development: Gerald Coetzee, Nuwan Thushara and Dilshan Madushanka. 

So MI will enter IPL 2024 with a pace attack that reads Bumrah, Behrendorff, Coetzee, Madushanka, Thushara, Pandya and the impressive Akash Madhwal. 

Yep, this is a pace battery capable of bringing the title home! 

Outrageous firepower with the bat 

Last season, Mumbai Indians nearly made it to the final despite being the worst bowling side in the competition. That’s how good their batting was. 

This season, they’ve only gone and added a certain Pandya to their already strong batting unit. Indeed, losing Cameron Green is unquestionably a blow, but Pandya’s addition makes MI’s batting all the more scary — at least on paper. 

In IPL 2023, MI had the best overall batting strike rate (158.9), hit the most sixes (140) and ransacked 1,860 runs against pace at a run rate of 10.1 RPO. Their batting line-up was simply unstoppable at the Wankhede. 

This time around, there is scope for MI to not just maintain these numbers but potentially improve them, having added Pandya to the middle-order and big-hitters such as Shepherd and Nabi to the lower-order.

A potential top seven of Rohit, Kishan, SKY, Pandya, Wadhera, David & Shepherd. Oof. 

What could cost them the title?

Lack of cutting edge in the spin department

Last season, one area where MI were unable to compete toe-to-toe with other sides was the spin department. They were not the worst side in the competition in terms of spin numbers, but their returns were middling: 32 wickets (5th among 10 teams) and an economy of 8.6, which was the joint second-worst in the competition. This despite Piyush Chawla (22 wickets @ 8.11 E.R) significantly exceeding expectations. 

MI were hence expected to go all-out and secure a wicket-taking spinner at the auction (someone like Wanindu Hasaranga or Adil Rashid), but the franchise, surprisingly, did not go after a marquee wrist-spinner. Instead, they picked Shreyas Gopal (who’s turned into a batting all-rounder in recent times) and Nabi, an off-spinner known for containing rather than wicket-taking. 

As good as MI’s pace battery is, there will be times when they’ll need to be bailed out by spin, thanks to the nature of the surfaces. 

At this point, though, it does seem like they might struggle on the spin front with the ball for the second season running unless one of their existing spinners have an outrageous season and significantly exceed expectations. On paper, MI have one of the weakest spin departments — if not the weakest — in the entire competition. 

Things to watch out for 

- Rohit’s form with the bat

- Ishan Kishan’s return to top-level professional cricket after three months 

- Hardik Pandya’s batting position and bowling workload / role

- How Akash Madhwal fares in his second season

- Mumbai’s team composition: two OS seamers + Nabi + David, or three OS seamers + David, or two OS seamers + David + Dewald Brevis

Probable XI

Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Tim David, Mohammad Nabi, Romario Shepherd, Gerald Coetzee, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Madhwal, Piyush Chawla (Impact Player)

Uncapped x-factor

Anshul Kamboj. The 23-year-old is a tall medium pacer capable of generating serious bounce and zip off the surface. He had an excellent SMAT season for Haryana, taking seven wickets at an E.R of 7.05. In his overall T20 career, Kamboj averages 15.09 and has a SR of 6.91.  

Schedule till April 7

March 24: Gujarat Titans vs Mumbai Indians (Away)

March 27: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai Indians (Away)

April 1: Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals (Home)

April 7: Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals (Home)