Four times Indian Premier League Champions and defending champion Mumbai Indians are all set to defend their title in this season’s IPL. The Mukesh Ambani owned franchise will look to be the formidable team in this year’s IPL.
Rohit Sharma will have the expertise of Kieron Pollard and Jasprit Bumrah in his team and will also have firepower in the Pandya brothers. The most successful team in the IPL has successfully acquired Nathan Coulter Nile in the auctions for a whopping 8 crore rupees after a tussle with familiar foes Chennai Super Kings.
They also got the key pacer Trent Boult courtesy the transfer window and were also able to get back there old swing bowl bowler Dhawal Kulkarni and they also let go opener Siddesh Lad, Evin Lewis, and Mayank Markande in the transfer window.
Let’s have a look at the predicted playing XI of Mumbai Indians for IPL 2020:
Rohit Sharma (c)
The Indian limited-overs vice-captain is the most successful captain in the history of IPL. Ever since Rohit has been appointed captain by Mumbai Indians, the team has won 4 titles. With the first title coming in 2013. Rohit Sharma who is currently nursing an injury is most likely to make a comeback in the IPL which starts on 29th March.
Rohit Sharma’s form will be extremely crucial for MI, as a good start will boost the morale of the team and with the firepower Mumbai Indians have in the middle order it will propel Mumbai Indians to a good total.
Quinton de Kock (wk)
The newly appointed South African captain will look to play his part with the bat and will also look to be a safeguard behind the stumps. Quinton De Kock who was brought in by Mumbai Indians in 2019 from Royal Challengers Bangalore in the transfer window will look to continue his good form in white-ball cricket.
It is also going to be very interesting to see how Quinton De Kock goes about the job when he sees an extremely aggressive Rohit Sharma.
Suryakumar Yadav
The Mumbai middle-order batsman has shown some brilliant form in the domestic circuit and has been knocking the doors of the Indian selectors for a very long time. He is a key batsman for Mumbai Indians in the middle order as the Mumbai Ranji captain provides the perfect stability and also can go berserk when required.
With another good season in the IPL and a nearly perfect season in the domestic circuit can help Yadav find a place in the Indian team.
Ishan Kishan
The young wicket-keeper batsman from Patna has been the part of Mumbai Indians since 2018, where he bought by Mumbai Indians for a whopping 6 Crores. Ishan Kishan who plays for Jharkhand in the domestic circuit didn’t have a very successful season but when he was given a chance to play for India A in the home series against South Africa A and an away series against New Zealand A.
The southpaw will always be remembered by the Mumbai Indians fans who inflicted the run out of MS Dhoni in the finals of 2019 IPL. Ishan Kishan also has a flamboyant style of batting and is a supergun fielder.
Krunal Pandya
Here starts Mumbai Indians star-studded middle order, the first name will be of the senior Pandya, one of those players who can give you a full quota of overs, can bowl in the powerplay and someone who can also bowl in the death.
If you want to talk about his batting, Krunal Pandya can be as dangerous as his younger brother Hardik Pandya. Krunal has a good record with the bat for Mumbai Indians ever since he joined the team in 2016. He can bat with composure and can also be as dreadful to the pace bowlers to what he is to the spin bowlers.
Hardik Pandya
The younger Pandya, batting-all rounder will give you 4 overs of pace bowling and will also be used as a finisher by Rohit Sharma. Hardik can score runs at a quick pace and can also any total with ease.
Hardik Pandya has looked very dangerous ever since he has come back from injury and his performance in the DY Patil T20 has been the sign of all the good things to come as the Indian All-rounder has scored 2 mammoth centuries for his team Reliance 1.
With his ability to finish the game and give 4 overs in any circumstance Hardik Pandya will be a key player for the Mumbai Indians batting line-up.
Kieron Pollard
The West Indian captain has been the part of the Mumbai Indians since 2010and has been with the team in all the hard times. The team has also stuck to the power-hitting Caribbean. The management should applaud themselves as the windies captain is getting back to his groove and is looking the same old player he was.
He has found his groove with the bat and he is also been bowling a few overs for the team. his is huge as it could potentially change the complete dynamics of the side. Kieron Pollard is a brilliant fielder and can be a part of the think tank and can also make a significant difference with his experience.
Rahul Chahar
The 20-year old leg spinner was the find for Mumbai Indians in the previous season of the Indian Premier League, He is a crafty wrist leg spinner and has been with the Indian team for some time. The leg spinner made his debut for the Indian team against West Indies in August and was also the part of the team which played the T20 series against South Africa.
In the 2019 season he picked up 13 wickets in 13 matches, His economy rate of 6.55 is also quite impressive. In the last season, Rahul even picked up two consecutive three-wicket hauls.
Lasith Malinga
The veteran speedster Lasith Malinga is one of those players who has been with Mumbai Indians since 2009 and Mumbai Indians will like to go with the experienced Malinga instead of Mitchell McClenaghan, Sherfane Rutherford and Nathan Coulter-Nile.
It was also Malinga who helped Mumbai Indians to win the IPL for 4th time in the history for IPL, with his brilliance in the final over against Chennai Super Kings. The pacer isn’t as effective as he was a few years ago. However, his experience still counts big time and he can adapt accordingly. Malinga, however, should try to be slightly more economical.
Trent Boult
The New Zealand pacer was brought by the Mumbai Indians courtesy trade window and he will be a first-hand pick for Mumbai Indians because of him being a left-handed fast bowler, He is capable of swinging the new ball both the ways and MI can look at him as a wicket-taking option in the powerplay overs.
Over the last few seasons, Trent Boult has struggled while dealing with the death overs. With the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Lasith Malinga on this side, he doesn’t need to worry about this aspect.
It shouldn’t be much of a problem even if he doesn’t complete his quota of four overs since the captain has got many other options to look at.
Jasprit Bumrah
Ace fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah one of the best in limited-overs format will once again look to bowl with the same energy and enthusiasm. Bumrah will look to regain his form and will also look to keep bowling in the right areas.
Bumrah is one of the few bowlers who can ball at any time and can also give wickets against the run of play. In 2019, he picked up 19 wickets in 16 games. For someone who operates in the powerplay and at the death, an economy rate of 6.63 is extraordinary.
In the last two seasons, he has managed to keep that economy rate below 7.