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MI IPL 2020 Preview: Will the champions go back-to-back? | Mumbai Indians IPL 2020 Preview: Can Mumbai overcome their even-year problem?
Mumbai Indians, the most successful franchise in the history of IPL cricket, have a pattern to their wins till date. So, 2020 being an even year doesn’t mean a great thing for MI. So, the question is can the 4-time champions break the odd year succession? They have an opportunity to emulate CSK’s 2010 and 2011 side, which is the only team till date to defend the IPL crown.
So do the Mumbai Indians have the team to win two titles in as many years, this time in the UAE? MI’s 2019 IPL squad was one of the most balanced squads in T20 cricket history, and they have retained much of the side’s core. All 11 players, which were a part of the playing XI in the final against CSK, were retained by the franchise, with Lasith Malinga withdrawing due to personal reasons.
We dive deep into the franchise’s squad and analyse the strengths, weaknesses and myriad aspects of the defending champions’ squad.
Squad
Mumbai Indians (MI) – Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Dhawal Kulkarni, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson, Mitchell McClenaghan, Quinton de Kock, Rahul Chahar, Rohit Sharma, Sherfane Rutherford, Surya Kumar Yadav, Trent Boult, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary, Digvijay Deshmukh, Prince Balwant Rai Singh, Mohsin Khan
Watch: CricBlog caught up with Cricket with Sparsh to discuss MI’s chances in IPL 2020. Watch here.
Talking points
- Rohit Sharma- Excellent captain, underachieving IPL batsman?
In the first five seasons, the franchise didn’t win the tournament. The appointment of Rohit Sharma as captain has been the franchise’s best move. Although Rohit Sharma has been the best captain since 2013, winning four trophies in seven years, the same cant be said about his batting. In the past three seasons, Rohit’s batting is on a downward trajectory, as his IPL performance is nothing like his performance in Indian colours.
Since IPL 2017, the ‘Hitman’ has scored 1024 runs in 45 innings at an average of 25.6 and SR of 127.52. He is the 18th highest run-scorer, but his BASRA is the second worst at 153.12, marginally ahead of Ajinkya Rahane’s 152.95. For a player of Rohit’s stature, this performance is not quite which is expected of him and MI will hope that he performs better than the recent past in the upcoming season.
- No Malinga, but backups strong
Lasith Malinga, the leading wicket-taker in the history of the IPL, is unavailable due to personal reasons and will miss the entirety of the lucrative tournament. Malinga has plied his trade for only MI in the tournament but has missed the IPL on three previous occasions, 2008, 2016 and 2018. MI’s performance was below par in all these years, missing the qualification for the latter stages, finishing fifth on the table on all the three occasions.
Malinga bowled the final over against the Chennai Super Kings in 2019 Final and defended nine runs off the final over. The franchise will most definitely miss the services of the veteran Lankan bowler and have signed James Pattinson as his replacement. The Aussie pacer hasn’t played a game in IPL’s history and is a part of the squad for the first time. Trent Boult, Nathan Coulter Nile or Mitchell McClenaghan will most likely step in Malinga’s shoes. In Slinga’s absence onus will be on Bumrah to lead the bowling attack especially in the death overs when he won’t have the able support of the 4-time IPL champion.
- Unknown players- Anmolpreet, Digvijay Deshmukh, Prince Balwant Rai Singh, Mohsin Khan
Considering MI’s rich history of scouting unknown talent it will be foolish of us to ignore the lesser-known or virtually unknown names in the squad.
Anmolpreet Singh is a 22-year-old batsman from Punjab who was a part of the MI’s squad in 2019 but didn’t get a game. The trio of Digvijay Deshmukh, Prince Balwant Rai Singh and Mohsin Khan was bought by the franchise in this edition’s auction and they have impressed sporadically in the domestic circuit.
Digvijay Deshmukh is a Maharashtra pacer who picked nine wickets in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019. He also scored a valuable 83 for Maharashtra in one of the Ranji Trophy games, which is a testament to his batting skills as well. Prince Balwant Rai Singh is a wrist spinner and hasn’ played in domestic cricket yet and this is just an illustration of the world-class scouting prowess of MI.
In the past, MI has bought Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah at the base price and the duo went on to become the pillar of not only the Mumbai Indians but also the Indian cricket team. Other than the duo, Mayank Markande and Krunal Pandya were also unknown players when MI picked them at the auction. So it will not be a surprise if one of the players, is a household name at the end of the season.
Strengths
- Pollard and the Pandyas
Ever since 2016, the biggest strength of the Mumbai Indians has been their lower middle order, which comprises of Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya. The trio has helped MI win two titles in four years.
Since IPL 2016, all three batsmen are a part of the top eight leading run-getters of the middle order. Hardik has the third-best strike rate of 153, only behind Russell and Pant. While the KPs – Pollard and Krunal – follow him at 141.93 and 139 respectively.
Along with their power-hitting skills, Hardik, Krunal and Pollard can provide some key overs with the ball, which allows Rohit Sharma to rotate his bowlers effectively.
- Top-order batting
The top-order batting of Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma and Quinton De Kock is one of the best in the league. Quinton De Kock scored over 500 runs in IPL 2019, while Rohit Sharma always poses a threat over the minds of the opposition. SKY has scored 936 runs in the past two editions of the IPL, and is MI’s leading run-scorer in the period. While Kishan at 4 is a valuable proposition considering he can attack spinners and is a southpaw.
- Indian core of players
Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah qne the Pandya brothers, along with Kishan and Rahul Chahar, form the core of MI’s team. It is perhaps the only team which can be entirely constructed around these Indian players. The only foreign player who is perhaps more valuable is Kieron Pollard for obvious reasons.
The fact that MI’s Indian players are as good or better than their overseas players makes them a contender in the IPL as other teams rely too much on their overseas talent.
Weaknesses
- Bowlers other than Bumrah
Jasprit Bumrah is the spearhead of the MI’s bowling attack, but he will miss the experienced services of Malinga. Other than Bumrah, the bowling attack has Rahul Chahar who has played just a solitary season. Trent Boult, Mitchell McClenaghan and Nathan Coulter Nile are certainly valuable players, but haven’t really shown world-class potential in the IPL. The four-time champion will hope that they aren’t overreliant on Bumrah over the course of the tournament.
- Spin department
With the pitches in UAE expected to be spin-friendly, MI’s spin attack is decent but they need to push more. Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya will be the lead spinners but both of them turn the ball away from the right-hander and into the left-hander. The only off-spinner is Jayant Yadav who has a mediocre record in IPL. Another back up is Anukul Roy, who is inexperienced.
MI should have signed an overseas spinner instead of James Pattinson as Malinga’s replacemen. As of now, they can only hope that the current spinners ameliorate their display in the 2020 IPL.
Prediction
The defending champions haven’t tweaked their core group of players from last season which helped them win the title. But the tournament’s shift to UAE may be a significant challenge for MI, as the conditions in UAE are completely different from those at Wankhede. As mentioned, the spin attack isn’t quite well rounded but in spite of the weaknesses, MI will reach the playoffs but need a special effort to push to win the fifth title.
Written by Sarthak Karkhanis. Follow Sarthak on Twitter today.
Watch: CricBlog caught up with Cricket with Sparsh to discuss MI’s chances in IPL 2020. Watch here.
