Hyderabad: Five-time title winners Mumbai Indians were superb last season but they were ruled out from the tournament on the verge of reaching the final as a result of suffering a defeat at the hands of Gujarat Titans in the Qualifier 2. This time even before the start of the season, the franchise is the talk of the town with their move to hand over the captaincy from Rohit Sharma to all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
The side has faced a lot of criticism for the unfair treatment of Rohit Sharma, who led them to five titles. Amidst all this chatter around mismanagement from Mumbai Indians, Hardik Pandya will have a tough task ahead of him to be unfazed by the flak MI are facing and lead the side to the title.
In the previous season, Suryakumar Yadav was the highest run-getter for the team scoring 605 runs with an average of 43.21. Piyush Chawla was the leading wicket-taker for the team while Jason Behrendorff assisted him with the ball taking 14 wickets.
Ahead of the auction, they strengthened their pace department by buying Gerald Coetzee and Nuwan Thushara for values of Rs 5 crores and 4.8 crores respectively. Also, they bought Mohammed Nabi at the auction table and got a quality all-rounder on the roster. Ahead of the commencement of the season, here is the SWOT analysis of the franchise.
Strength
Batting is the biggest strength for Hardik and Co. They have a solid top three including Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav. Tilak Varma can come in to bat two down. Hardik Pandya and Tim David can finish the innings. Thus, MI have one of the strongest batting lineups in the coveted tournament and their batters have the potential to guide them on the path of glory.
Also, with Luke Wood and Gerald Coetzee's support for Jasprit Bumrah, the pace department is a strong asset for MI. They also have Romario Shepherd, who can roll his arm and his medium pace can trouble batters as well.
Weakness
A quality spin option might become an issue of concern for the franchise in the upcoming edition. Piyush Chawla had a sensational campaign last year but his form this year will be under suspicion. Apart from him, they have Kumar Kartikeya but he is not a sure-shot performer in the spin department. Mohammed Nabi’s place in the team doesn’t look to be guaranteed but this vacuum in the spin department might compel Mumbai Indians to include him in the playing XI.
MI also lack a backup opening option as they don’t have any specialised opener apart from Rohit and Kishan. Thus, an injury to any of these two changes the whole make-up of the batting unit.
Opportunity
Tilak Varma will have the biggest chance in the IPL to unleash himself and show the potential to become a mainstay in the Indian T20 team. The left-handed batter has amassed 336 runs from 15 innings so far in his international career and MI will be relying on him to provide crucial contributions in the middle order.
Nehal Wadhera and Kumar Kartikeya are the other youngsters who will look to make the most out of the opportunities they get. The duo might get only a few games throughout the season but a noteworthy performance in those fixtures can help them draw the attention of the cricket fraternity.
Threats
The biggest threat the team might face is the impact of all the chatter around the move of making Hardik as the skipper of the side. The franchise is facing a lot of backlash right now with the decision and that can affect their performance. It will be interesting to see how the Hardik-Rohit duo works together with the former being the skipper of the team.
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