Mumbai Indians in Indian Premier League

8th April (CRICKETNMORE) - The most costiliest team in the Indian Premier League, Mumbai Indians has always hogged the limelight thanks to its association with Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar and with reknowned players like Harbhajan Singh, Ricky Ponting, Sanath Jayasurya and Lasith Malinga having been part of it in some edition or other. Their only success came in 2013 under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, giving a fitting farewell to its icon player Sachin Tendulkar.

The Mumbai franchise was sold to the Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) for $111.9 million, making it the most expensive team in the league. However, the team courted controversy in the inaugral season itself when its stand-in captain Harbhajan Singh (Sachin was apparently not available due to an injury in the first few matches) slapped Sreeshanth in their match against Kings XI Punjab, due to which he was suspended. Shaun Pollock was handed over the captaincy and took the team to the fifth position, missing the semi-final spot by one point.

The 2009 IPL, played in South Africa, was Mumbai Indians worst ever performance in the IPL, coming 7th in the ranking table. Their performance can be attributed on banking on a few players like Tendulkar and Duminy in the batting and Harbhajan and Malinga in the bowling department. Team work eluded them and was a major cause for their downfall.

The 2010 season, probably saw the rise of the team from the ashes of the last season. They began the season with a bang winning seven of their first eight matches. The team was boosted by brilliant performances by Sachin Tendulkar, Saurabh Tiwary, Harbhajan Singh, Shikar Dhawan, etc. Mumbai Indians easily cruised to the semi-finals and comfortably defeated its opponents Royal Challengers Bangalore. But the team faltered at the final and lost the match to Chennai super Kings. Sachin Tendulkar was at the top of his form during 2010 and had amassed a total of 618 runs in the tournament. He won the 'Best Batsman' and the 'Best captain' awards for his contribution to the tournament. 

Sachin Tendulkar once again led from the front scoring 513 runs in the IPL's 2011 season. Consistent performances again saw them in the threshhold of reaching the finals, but this time Royal Challengers Bangalore proved too strong for them in the semi-finals.

Sachin Tendulkar declared his decision to step down from captaincy and Harbhajan Singh was made the captain of the team for the the 2012 season. The team started off well and defeated Chennai Super Kings in its first match. It played consistently and went on to win 10 matches out of 16 played. Mumbai Indians managed to enter the semi-finals but was beaten by its opponent Chennai Super Kings.

With Mitchell Johnson and Lasith Malinga as bowling spearheads, any team would have shiver down its spine. Thats exactly what worked for Mumbai Indian's in the 2013 edition and coupled with experienced customers like Anil Kumble, Jonty Rhodes, Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting as its mentors the team displayed astounding performances in its batting and bowling department and emerged victorious.

Mumbai continued their good run in the 2014 season. The most memorable moment of the season was their last match against Rajasthan Royals, which both sides needed to win to get into the play-offs. But with an inferior run-rate, Mumbai needed to score Rajasthan Royal's 190-run target in 14 overs. It was upto the man, who scored the fastest hundred in 36 balls just  a few months ago,  to help Mumbai achieve the improbable target. Corey Anderson, who had a silent season till then, hammered a 44 ball 95 to take them to the play-offs. But their hopes of reaching the finals for a third time were dashed by Chennai Super Kings.

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Abhishek (CRICKETNMORE)