Mumbai Indians is the greatest team in all of franchise cricket history, having won the Indian Premier League, a record five times. As we look forward to the 2023 edition of IPL, MI will be looking to continue their winning ways and lift the prestigious IPL trophy for the sixth time.
Despite being the most successful team overall in the IPL and the winners of the 2020 edition, Mumbai Indians have had a rough couple of seasons, finishing fifth in the 2021 edition of the IPL and finishing last for the first time ever in the 2022 edition, winning just four games throughout the season.
One major weakness that MI faced last season was their over-reliance on their top-order batsmen and while they had a strong batting line-up, they struggled when their top-order failed to perform. But this season MI has worked on building depth in their batting line-up including Aussie ace all-rounder Cameron Green in their squad. Green had an incredible outing on his last visit to India, opening the innings for the first time in his career and wreaking havoc scoring two fifties in three matches for his national team.
Another weakness that MI might face is its lack of experienced spinners. They have some excellent spinners like Shams Mulani and Kartikeya Singh, but the lack of exposure of these players can make them struggle during pressure situations. However, despite the absence of pace bowling maestro Jasprit Bumrah due to injury, MI’s pace bowling department is sorted with Aussie pacer Jason Behrendorff, and lightning-fast Englishmen Jofra Archer leading the attack along with support by young Cameron Green as well. Also, we might see the long-awaited debut of the young right-arm medium pacer Arjun Tendulkar who has been part of the franchise for quite some time now.
MI’s biggest strength this season relies on their strong batting line-up. Some of cricket’s all time great batsmen have been part of the franchise and some of them are still part of it including the likes of ‘Hitman’ Rohit Sharma, the incredibly in-form Suryakumar Yadav, the magnificent Ishan Kishan, and not to forget ‘Baby De Villiers’ Dewald Brewis. In IPL 2023, we can expect to see these players continue to perform well and lead the team’s batting efforts and help them chase divine glory.
Despite everything, MI has been known for their excellent fielding abilities and they have been above par in their fielding department since the beginning. However, if they can improve even further in this area, it will give them an edge over other teams in the league.
One opportunity that MI has is to bring in some young talent into their squad. This will not only help them build for the future but also provide some much-needed energy and enthusiasm to the team, which is much needed to become IPL champions for the sixth time.
Mumbai Indians are always known for their fiery comebacks and with almost every player of their being in the form of their lives, we may very well see MI’s redemption after the humiliation they suffered last year.