By Omkar Narvekar
Image Source: Mumbai Indians official twitter account |
"The team represents the spirit of the city," were the words of Nita Ambani in the last episode of Netflix original, "Cricket Fever: Mumbai Indians. According to that, the team will too resilient from its last season disaster. Mumbai Indians (MI) had a nightmare of a start in the last season of Indian Premier League (IPL), winning only one of their first six matches. The stats itself were disappointing for a team who were former champions. They did fight till their last breath in the 2018 season but did not manage to qualify like they always do.
With the inclusion few new and experienced players in the side in IPL 2019, the team seems a decent team on paper. However, few questions are still unanswered to the team. First and the most important being the missing experience of Harbhajan Singh in the team. Harbhajan has been the face of MI since the very first season. He being roped in my Chennai Super Kings and formed a loophole in Mi's spin unit. Of the front-line spinners MI has, only Jayant Yadav and Mayank Markande have played on international level, although they are still toddlers there, having played a game or two in limited overs. The way Markande failed to pick up wickets towards the end of the season is where a lack of experience in the spin department was highlighted. But when it comes to experience in pace bowling, Jasprit Bumrah has got his mentor by his side as MI bagged in Lasith Malinga in the squad.
The other concern for MI is the batting position of Rohit Sharma. In the last game Rohit was seen coming late to bat and handling the opening responsibility to Evin Lewis and Suryakumar Yadav. However, this season there is an addition of Quinton de Kock for the opening spot as well. With Suryakumar being the top-scorer (512) for the team in the last season followed by Lewis (382) and de Kock being a regular opener, Rohit will have to make the hard call. Not to forget the current form of Suryakumar in the domestic Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament where he scored 273 runs is 6 matches with an impressive average of 68.25. Mumbai’s middle orger is strongly held by the Pandya brothers, and experienced Kieron Pollard.
The addition of de Kock, Jayant Yadav, Yuvraj Singh, Jason Behrendorff, Jayant Yadav and Malinga makes the team well balanced. Yuvraj might not have fired in the previous season, scoring mere 65 runs in 8 games, we all know what he is capable of. Chennai Super Kings (CKS) is the living examples of team winning the cup with experienced (or old) players. With MI losing close encounters in the last season would look to improvise on their skills under pressure and come back strongly. Remember MI wins with the odds. They were triumphant in 2013, 2015 and 2017. What does 2019 have in the box for them?
Probable XI
Suryakumar Yadav, Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (C), Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Markande, Adam Milne.
Note: With de Kock opening the innings, MI will have a foreign opener and wicket-keeper which fills two spots, making way for another player in place of Ishan Kishan. However, Ishan's form in Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament has been outstanding with an average of almost 70 and two centuries in his name. If de Kock fails to perform, Ishan might soon see a way in.
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