The Mumbai Indians are on the cusp of greatness. They have a chance to emulate the 1990’s Chicago Bulls, Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United and the current Mercedes F1 team if they can win IPL 2021 and complete the threepeat. Mumbai Indians arguably already belongs in the pantheon of great sporting teams having won 3 out of the last 4 IPL’s and 5 of the last 8. No side has dominated the cricketing landscape in such fashion barring the great Australian and West Indies teams of yesteryear.
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What’s even more impressive is that Mumbai Indians have won all these titles with the same core group of players. Kieron Pollard joined in 2010, Rohit Sharma in 2011, Bumrah in 2013, Hardik in 2015, Krunal in 2016 and they’ve had Lasith Malinga as a trump card too. These players were again retained by MI in the mega auction in 2018 and have formed the nucleus of their champion side. After winning IPL 2019 in nail-biting fashion vs arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai continued their dynastic run in the UAE to retain their trophy. Thanks to some smart buys in the auction, the Boys from Bollywood will be favourites to lift the trophy once again in 2021. From their scouting to their coaching to their on-field talent, Mumbai is the complete T20 franchise, and here are 5 reasons why they could do the threepeat in IPL 2021.
1. No Weaknesses
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Much like football, cricket is a sport where you are only as strong as your weakest link. As Virat Kohli’s RCB have shown, you can have plenty of top-class players but if they are not surrounded by similar quality, you will fail. With all the other 7 IPL teams you can pinpoint some weaknesses. Punjab, Hyderabad and Bangalore have poor middle-order batting, Kolkata and Chennai have a top-order problem and there are some holes in Delhi and Rajasthan’s bowling. Unlike the rest of the pack, Mumbai has virtually eradicated all weakness from their side. They are equally as dangerous with the ball as they are with the bat and on top of that, they have ridiculous bench strength. This is one of the primary reasons why Mumbai is so consistent and shows why they are favourites in IPL 2021.
2. Captaincy
In T20 cricket, captaincy is one of the most crucial aspects of the game. From field settings to bowling-changes to understanding match-ups and batting combinations, a captain has an immense impact on the game with his decisions. In Rohit Sharma, Mumbai has a captain who has a brilliant tactical nous and can make smart decisions under pressure. The perfect example of this was in the IPL 2020 Final. Rohit and Mumbai understood that Delhi has a lot of left-handers in their batting line-up so instead of playing the leg-spinner Rahul Chahar who has been part of the team the entire season, they decided to play the off-spinner Jayant Yadav who went on to pick up a crucial wicket in the powerplay too.
It is these marginal gains and putting the Team ahead of individuals that separate Mumbai from the crowd and make them such a champion side. In addition to Rohit, Mumbai also has leaders such as Pollard and De Kock in the team who have captained their respective countries and played T20 cricket around the world.
3. Boundary Hitting Batsman
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T20 cricket is in the middle of a boundary hitting revolution as analytics has shown that on average the team that hits more boundaries wins more than 90% of games. Understanding this crucial dynamic, Mumbai has packed its side with boundary hitting batsman. Apart from Rohit Sharma, who you can describe as more of an anchor who takes time to get going, Mumbai has 6 batsmen in their Top 7 who can clear the ropes at will. In IPL 2020 Mumbai had 4 batsmen in the Top 10 for sixes hit and had the highest run-rate in the last 5 overs of the innings amongst all IPL teams with 12.4. This batting muscle has been part of the recipe for Mumbai’s success over the years and will continue to be their x-factor in IPL 2021.
4. Balanced Bowling Attack
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Mumbai has a clear strategy when it comes to their bowling. Considering that India has an abundance of spinners and a shortage of quality pace bowlers, Mumbai packs their sides with overseas pacers and Indian spinners. The spinners like Chahar, Krunal and Jayant Yadav are used primarily through the middle overs to contain the run-flow while the pacers are used in short sharp bursts to make the inroads. Mumbai had two of the top three wicket-takers in the competition last season and picked up the most wickets in the powerplay (31). Mumbai also had the best economy rate in the death overs last season thanks to the best death bowler on the planet, Jasprit Bumrah.
5. Balance
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Balance is that magic word every T20 team is looking for, the perfect equilibrium between your batting and bowling. Normally T20 is a game of trade-offs where if you strengthen your batting it weakens your bowling and vice versa. SRH are a side that has an incredible bowling attack but a weak batting line-up, RCB in 2016 had four of the best batters in the competition but an extremely expensive bowling unit.
Mumbai have managed to break the system and find the perfect balance thanks to the Pollard-Krunal-Hardik axis. These three all-rounders in the middle-order give Mumbai three hard-hitting batsmen in their top 7 who can also bowl anywhere between 1-4 overs a game. This provides Rohit Sharma 22-24 overs a game to work with and the bowlers can be managed according to the match situation. This balance has been key to Mumbai’s success and been one of the main building blocks of their dynastic run in the Indian Premier League.
[Image Credit: Mumbai Indians]
Shivaan Shah