Mumbai Indians - IPL 2021 Preview

Indian Premier League’s most successful team with 5 IPL titles and 2 Champions League T20 titles will be entering the 14th season of IPL to defend their title. In fact, they have a chance to make history by winning it for the third time in a row. Known for the team performances rather than individual ones, Mumbai Indians have managed to keep the same team as that of the last season with an exception of James Pattinson. The best betting site for IPL 10Cric has put Mumbai Indians as the Most favourite with a return of $4.35 for a dollar. The bookies and fans’ preferred team will start their campaign on 9th April against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

History of Mumbai Indians

IndiaWin Sports, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries bought the most expensive Mumbai-based franchise for $111.9 million in 2008. Indian Legend Sachin Tendulkar was chosen as the icon player for Mumbai and led the team in the first season of the IPL. They bought Shaun Pollock, Sanath Jayasuriya, Harbhajan Singh, and Lasith Malinga (who went on to become the most successful bowler for MI) in the auction. Things didn’t go as planned in the first season of the IPL for Mumbai as they lost the first four games. After winning the next six matches in a row, they failed to make it to the semis as a result of three last over defeats. In the second season, they finished seventh by winning only 5 matches out of 14.

Rise from the ashes

The third season of IPL was seen as the stepping stone of franchise history. They bought Kieron Pollard in the auction and the rest became history. They topped the table and eventually reached the finals. They suffered a defeat against Chennai Super Kings due to strategic errors in the batting line-up. Sachin Tendulkar won the orange cap for the 2011 season for his 618 runs at an average of 47.53 and a strike rate of 132.6. In 2011, they won the Champions League T20 by defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore in the finals. In 2012 they finished third and lost to CSK in the playoffs again.

We are the Champions era

In 2013, MI won their first IPL title under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma. They continued their success in the CLT20 and won the trophy for the second time. After finishing fifth in the IPL 2014, MI won the IPL for the second time in 2015 by defeating CSK in the finals by 41 runs. The following season, MI finished 5th. In 2017, they secured their third title after winning a nail-bitter against the Rising Pune Supergiant by 1 run. Clinching the title made MI the most successful team in the history of the IPL.

Back-to-back titles

Mumbai Indians won back-to-back IPL titles in the 2019 and 2020 seasons. In 2019, they defeated CSK in the final ball of the match. Needing 2 runs in the final ball, Lasith Malinga took a wicket on the final delivery. Last season, they won comfortably against the Delhi Capitals to retain the IPL title.

MI IPL 2021 Auction

Mumbai Indians released 7 players including first-team player Nathan Coulter-Nile before the IPL auctions. They went into the auction with a purse of INR 15.35 crore (USD 2.1 million). They tried hard to bring Chris Morris to wear the blue jersey but lost to Rajasthan Royals. They finally succeeded with Adam Milne. Milne cost MI INR 3.20crore (USD 441k). They spent INR 5 crores (USD 690k) to bring back Nathan Coulter-Nile.

MI surprised everyone by going for Indian leg-spinner Piyush Chawla. After landing Piyush Chawla for INR 2.4 crores (USD 331k), they welcomed James Nisham back into their squad for his base price of INR 50 lakhs. In the final stages of the auction, they bought Yudhvir Singh and Marco Jenson for their base prices of INR 20lakhs. Not to anyone’s surprise, they bought Arjun Tendulkar for his base price, the only Tendulkar they could afford.

Players out: Prince Balwant Rai, Digvijay Deshmukh, Lasith Malinga, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Pattinson, Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell McCleneghan.

Players in: Adam Milne, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, James Neesham, Yudhvir Singh, Marco Jansen, Arjun Tendulkar.

Key Players for Mumbai Indians

Well, for MI each and every individual is a key player. They are famous for building a team with this strategy. Here is the list of players who topped the expectations.

Surya Kumar Yadav: Keep Calm and Trust Surya! Last season Surya came to the rescue of MI on various occasions. He finished the season with 480 runs at a strike rate of 145.01 including four fifties.

Ishan Kishan: Kishan was the leading run-scorer for MI last season with 516 runs at a strike rate of 145.76 and 4 fifties. Seen as the present and the future of MI, Kishan will play a crucial part in strengthening the middle-order.

Hardik Pandya: Mumbai’s saviour in desperate times. The explosive all-rounder scored 281 runs for them at a staggering strike rate of 178.98. He will be available for bowling options this season makes him more lethal in the setup.

Jaspreet Bumrah: Well, this guy needs no introduction. He took 27 wickets last season at an economy of 6.73. So far, he has 109 wickets playing for MI in 92 matches and is improving every season.

Mumbai Indians Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary, Anmolpreet Singh, Aditya Tare (wk), Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Anukul Roy, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohsin Khan, Adam Milne, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, James Neesham, Yudhvir Charak, Marco Jansen, Arjun Tendulkar

Mumbai Indians Odds to Win IPL 2021 at 10CRIC

10Cric providing the best cricket odds has placed Mumbai Indians at the first position for IPL 2021 with odds of $4.35. Seeing the stats and the records betting on Mumbai Indians will be the safest a bettor can look for.

Expectations for IPL 2021

1. Delhi Capitals: 4-0! These are the stats from the last season. MI won every outing against the last season’s finalists. This year MI are clear favourites to win all the matches against the Delhi Capitals.

2. Kolkata Knight Riders: Mumbai Indians have the best winning percentage against KKR. With 21 wins in the 27 games against the rivals, they are expected to emulate the success by winning both the games against KKR.

3. Chennai Super Kings: Probably Mumbai Indians’ toughest opponent. Mumbai will win one and lose one against the second most successful team of the IPL.

Conclusion

Mumbai Indians have nothing to prove to anyone. Since 2013, they are on a whole another level. They are and will always be looked at as the favourites to win the IPL. this season is no same. After retaining the full squad from the last season and adding new firepower on the roaster, it will be interesting to see if MI creates history by winning their sixth IPL title.