Mumbai Indians Team Preview - Records, Journey, IPL 2021 Squad & Schedule

Defending Champions Mumbai Indians (MI) is arguably the best team in the history of IPL. Led by the limited-overs vice-captain of the Indian Cricket Team - Rohit Sharma, MI has played in the IPL Finals 6 times and has won five of them - the most by any team. This time as well, it won’t be wrong to say that they are the favorites to win after they defended their title in IPL 2020. 

Mumbai's stronghold has been picking up new Indian Players who perform consistently and eventually turn into big stars. Backed by Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah & Suryakumar Yadav; MI has a destructive lineup yet again as they eye a Title Hattrick.

Mumbai Indians' squad for IPL 2021

• Batsmen: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Anmolpreet Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, Suryakumar Yadav, Chris Lynn 
• All-Rounders: James Neesham, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Anukul Roy 
• Wicketkeepers: Quinton de Kock, Ishan Kishan, Aditya Tare
• Bowlers: Arjun Tendulkar, Nathan Coulter Nile, Trent Boult, Jayant Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Mohsin Khan, Yudhvir Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Dhawal Kulkarni, Marco Jensen, Adam Milne, Rahul Chahar

IPL Records

• Mumbai Indians hold various records throughout the history of IPL. 
• MI has registered the biggest wins in IPL, in terms of both runs & balls remaining.
• MI defeated Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) by 146 runs in the IPL 2017, which is the biggest win by a margin of runs. In the first season of IPL, Mumbai Indians defeated Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR) by 8 wickets with 87 balls to spare, which remains the biggest win by a margin of balls remaining, in IPL history. 
• Rohit Sharma is the highest run-scorer among batsmen in the current MI squad. He has amassed 5,230 runs in 195 Innings at a strike rate of 130.61 while averaging 31.31.
• In the bowling department, Jasprit Bumrah is the highest wicket-taker for Mumbai with 109 wickets in 92 IPL Matches.

Mumbai Indians' Journey In Indian Premier League

• 2008: Won 7 matches & lost 7 matches. Finished fifth in the league standings.
• 2009: Won 5 matches and lost 8 matches, finished 7th in the league. 
• 2010: Reached the finals. Finished as runners-up after getting defeated by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the finals. Won 11 & lost 5 matches, finishing 1st in the league group table.
• 2011: Reached the playoffs and finished 3rd. They won 10 and lost 6 matches. 
• 2012: Reached the playoffs and finished 3rd again. They won 10 matches and lost 7.
• 2013: They again reached the finals and this time managed to win their maiden IPL trophy, defeating CSK. MI won 13 matches and lost 6 matches in this successful campaign.
• 2014: Managed to reach the playoffs again, finished 4th. They won 7 matches and lost 8 matches during the season.
• 2015: MI yet again reached the finals and won their second title. They defeated their 3rd-time finals opponent CSK to lift the title. They won 10 and lost 6 matches in this IPL.
• 2016: Failed to reach the playoffs. Won & lost 7 matches, finishing 5th in the final standings.
• 2017: Reached the finals, won the title for the 3rd time. Defeated Rising Pune Supergiants in the finals. MI lost 5 and won 12 matches in the tournament.
• 2018: Failed to make it to the playoffs. Won 6 & lost 8 matches.
• 2019: Finished first after defeating CSK yet again in the finals. Won 11 and lost 5 matches. 
• 2020: Finished first yet again for the second consecutive time. MI defeated Delhi Capitals in the finals to lift their 5th IPL Trophy. They won 11 and lost 5 matches in this tournament.

Overall Record in IPL

• Matches Played: 203
• Wins: 120
• Losses: 83
• No Result: 0
• Win Rate: 59.11%

Mumbai Indians' strength in IPL 2021 would be the core players they have retained for over a long time in the franchise. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard & Hardik Pandya have been part and even cause of the MI success story for over a long time now. Even Ishan Kishan and Dhawan Kulkarni have been with the franchise for a long time now.

MI’s weakness could be the lack of Indian Pacers in the team. Apart from Jasprit Bumrah, none of the bowlers have yet bestowed a display of match-winning pace bowling. There’s Dhawan Kulkarni, but apart from these two, there’s Arjun Tendulkar & Mohsin Khan, who don’t have an experience in IPL. Although this can be less worrying as they have solid foreign pace bowlers: Trent Boult, Nathan Coulter-Nile, and Adam Milne, and they have a strong Indian batting lineup which allows the team to play two foreigners in the bowling department.

MI has added two foreign all-rounders in the squad for IPL 2021 - New Zealand’s hard-hitting all-rounder James Neesham and the uncapped South African Marco Jensen. Jensen is 20-year-old and 6 foot 8 inches tall; he can be a long-term asset for Mumbai Indians.

Although the worrisome point could be the injury-prone players in the squad. Chris Lynn has had a long history of injuries. New signings Adam Milne & Nathan Coulter Nile are also injury-prone players, and they have been injured while playing IPL in the past as well.  

Mumbai Indians - IPL Schedule for 2021

• 9th April: vs Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chennai
• 13th April: vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Chennai
• 17th April: vs Sunrisers Hyderabad at Chennai 
• 20th April: vs Delhi Capitals at Chennai
• 23rd April: vs Punjab Kings at Chennai 
• 29th April: vs Rajasthan Royals at Delhi (at 4 PM)
• 1st May: vs Chennai Super Kings at Delhi
• 4th May: vs Sunrisers Hyderabad at Delhi
• 8th May: vs Rajasthan Royals at Delhi
• 10th May: vs Kolkata Knight Riders at Bangalore
• 13th May: vs Punjab Kings at Bangalore (at 4 PM)
• 16th May: vs Chennai Super Kings at Bangalore
• 20th May: vs Royal Challengers Bangalore at Kolkata 
• 23rd May: vs Delhi Capitals at Kolkata (at 4 PM)

Also Check Royal Challengers Bangalore Overview