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Tagged as ‘underperformers’ for the first two seasons of the IPL, the Mumbai Indians finally managed to hit the right notes in the third season and looked to go the distance before their march was halted by a rampant Chennai Super Kings side in the final. It was no surprise then, that Mumbai and Chennai were the only two sides which chose to retain the allowed quota of four players in the auction that followed the third season, in the process retaining the crux of their respective teams. Both sides therefore, look as strong as they were in the earlier seasons of the IPL and it would not be a surprise if they happen to be pitted against each other once more in a knockout battle in the latter stages of Season Four!

Along with Sachin Tendulkar who returns to skipper the side after having achieved the long-cherished dream of lifting the World Cup with Team India, Mumbai have retained Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga and middle-order power hitter Kieron Pollard. While Tendulkar and Malinga would look to continue their good work from the recently concluded World Cup, Harbhajan Singh would once again be a crucial cog in the MI attack, and will be hungry for some wickets.

Player – By – Player Analysis:

Thanks to the player auction at the end of Season Three, Mumbai have been able to strengthen their batting even more, adding the title winning Deccan Chargers duo of Andrew Symonds and Rohit Sharma to their ranks. Symonds, though he was not a part of the Big Bash last season, did represent Surrey in the Friends Provident T20 series and had a decent outing scoring 263 runs at 20.33 while also taking 12 wickets. As for Sharma, this is a welcome return to his hometown after what has been a magnificent stint with the Deccan Chargers and with the disappointment of having missed out of a place in the World Cup squad; Rohit would be gunning to make amends. Expect Sharma and Symonds to slot in at No.4 and 5 respectively and with Pollard at No.6, the Mumbai middle order is capable of scoring close to 100 runs in the last 10 overs of their innings, making them virtually unbeatable!

Apart from the four ‘star players’, Mumbai have also done well to retain the likes of Ambati Rayudu and Rajagopal Sathish while adding the dangerous Tirumalasetti Suman to form what looks like a promising trio of young, domestic middle-order batsmen. Rayudu in particular, was one of the highlights for Mumbai last season having scored 404 runs at 23.76, and with Saurabh Tiwary complementing him well, the duo formed an explosive partnership that propelled Mumbai to good scores and took pressure off the shoulders of the big-name signings. It is clear by now that the success of a team in the IPL is directly proportional to the strength of its domestic contingent, and in that regards Mumbai has its base covered.

Davy Jacobs and James Franklin are two of the notable overseas inclusions to the squad apart from Symonds and though Jacobs impressed as captain of the Warriors at the CLT20 last year, his below-average stats as a T20 player suggest that he will struggle to make it to the playing eleven. Franklin, on the other hand, comes on the back of an impressive T20 stint with Gloucestershire in 2010 (470 runs at 34.16) and considering he can bowl a bit too, he will act as a backup for Symonds. All-rounder Moises Henriques who joins after not-so-successful stints with the Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils, is also a valuable addition considering his all-round abilities and one would expect him to make the starting eleven at least in the initial set of games.

Zaheer Khan’s loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore is something the bowling department will need to worry about and that would mean added responsibility on the shoulder of Munaf Patel who would need to complement Malinga as the second seamer in the side. Henriques, with 31 T20 wickets to his name, will lend some teeth to the attack, while Dhawal Kulkarni will be expected to shoulder the burden of the third seamer in the side, something he has been doing for Mumbai in the previous seasons. Worryingly though, both Henriques and Kulkarni have economy rates in excess of 8 and therefore, it becomes vital that along with Harbhajan Singh, the senior pros in Malinga and Munaf keep a tight leash on the opposition batsmen.

Squad:

Batsmen: Sachin Tendulkar (c), Ambati Rayudu, Tirumalasetti Suman, Rajagopal Sathish, Sarul Kanwar, Suryakumar Yadav, Aiden Blizzard, Rohit Sharma

Bowlers: Lasith Malinga, Moises Henriques, Munaf Patel, Dilhara Fernando, Abu Nechim Ahmed, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pawan Suyal, Harbhajan Singh, Yuzvendra Singh Chahal.

All Rounders: Davy Jacobs(wk), Andrew Symonds, James Franklin, Kieron Pollard, Aditya Tare (wk), Ali Murtaza.

Support Staff:

Head Coach: Robin Singh, Assistant Coach: Paras Mhambrey, Mentor & Bowling Coach: Shaun Pollock, Fielding Coach: Jonty Rhodes, Fitness Coach: Ramji Srinivasan, Physiotherapist: Nitin Patel, Bowling Coach: TA Shekhar, Performance Analyst: CKM Dhanajai.

Likely Playing XI: Sachin Tendulkar(capt), Aditya Tare(wk), Ambati Rayudu, Rohit Sharma, Andrew Symonds, Kieron Pollard, Moises Henriques, Harbhajan Singh, Dhawal Kulkarni, Lasith Malinga, Munaf Patel.

Players to watch:

Kieron Pollard: The Smash bang assassin from Trinidad may have had a mixed World Cup, but he's a huge hit in the shortest version of the game. He has all the ingredients to stir up a bland curry and make it unresisting. Also watch out for his more-than-a-handful wobbly medium pacers and his awesome fielding.

Lasith Malinga: He reminds the cricketing world why taking wickets is paramount even in a 90 minute per innings game. The quiver of Malinga is replete with bows which land right on the Achilles Heel of the batsmen. His four overs could be the difference between Mumbai chasing 130 or 160.

Schedule:

Mumbai’s first couple of games (see the whole list at the end of the article) are tricky as they start their campaign in Delhi against the dangerous Daredevils. From there they travel to Bengaluru to face the Royal Challengers. While a win in both these games would be an ideal start, a win from either road game would probably be acceptable to the team management. Mumbai play their first home game on the 15^th against the new commodity Kerala, who on paper look a good and balanced side. Another new entrant Pune Warriors are next on the list of Mumbai who under the captaincy of Yuvraj Singh look a balanced T20 unit. And the triad of home fixtures is finished on Apr 22 against the defending champions Chennai Super Kings. Mumbai will be happy though, that thanks to the new format, they do not need to visit defending champions Chennai for an away game in what would have been a tough test.

An away game to Deccan Chargers on Apr 24^th is followed by the trip to Jaipur against the Rajasthan Royals. Kings XI Punjab is next on the horizon at home on May 2^nd, which they reciprocate on May 10 at Mohali. In between they entertain Delhi Daredevils on May 7^th. The final three games of the campaign involve Deccan Chargers and Rajasthan Royals at home with the final game of the league stage at the Eden, Kolkata.

Winning at least eight (combined home and away) games would be imperative to go through to the knockout stage and Mumbai Indians have an incentive as the Semifinal game (if they qualify) would be at the Wankhede.

Home Fixtures: To be played at the newly adorned Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
Fri Apr 15 vs Kochi Tuskers Kerala, 8pm
Wed Apr 20 vs Pune Warriors, 4pm
Fri Apr 22 vs Chennai Super Kings, 8pm
Mon May 2 vs Kings XI Punjab, 4pm
Sat May 7 vs Delhi Daredevils, 8pm
Sat May 14 vs Deccan Chargers, 8pm
Fri May 20 vs Rajasthan Royals, 8pm

Away Fixtures:
Sun Apr 10 vs Delhi Daredevils (Feroz Shah Kotla), 8pm
Tue Apr 12 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (M Chinaswamy Stadium), 8pm
Sun Apr 24 vs Deccan Chargers (Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium), 4pm
Fri Apr 29 vs Rajasthan Royals (Sawai Mansingh Stadium), 4pm
Wed May 4 vs Pune Warriors (D Y Patil Stadium), 8pm
Tue May 10 vs Kings XI Punjab (PCA), 8pm
Sun May 22 vs Kolkata Knight Riders (Eden Gardens), 8pm

File Photograph Copyright: Gayatri Naik

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