Defending champions Mumbai Indians bought as many as seven players in the IPL 2021 player auction. In the process, the franchise has all the more strengthened their squad and have prepared for some decent backups. They have won the IPl five times, most by any franchise in the history of the game. The franchise has a huge fan base and huge fan-following all-across India.
Son of Sachin Tendulkar, Arjun Tendulkar was one of the buys of the franchise. Apart from him, the five-time IPL Champions bought Adam Milne, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Neesham, Marco Jansen, Yudhvir Singh and Piyush Chawla. Only a few of them are likely to feature in the playing XI as MI have always backed regulars and given a long rope to the struggling players as well.
Here is the Mumbai Indians Predicted Playing XI for IPL 2021:
Quinton De Kock
The South African wicket-keeper was a regular feature in the Mumbai Indians line-up in IPL 2021. The team management continued to back De Kock even as he struggled in a few matches last year. The backing worked and he finished the season with 503 runs.
Kock will be aiming to keep up the good work in the coming season after form a strong partnership with skipper Rohit Sharma at the top.
Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma has played his best cricket for the side whenever he has opened the batting. Thus alongside De Kock, Rohit will be an ideal opening partner as he plays the role of an anchor who aims t bat throughout the innings.
Rohit can also score quickly in boundaries and play according to the situation as well. He scored 332 runs from 12 games for the franchise last season including a fifty in the final.
Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav has been MI’s go-to batsman since rejoining the side and will continue to hold his spot. The right-handed batsman has scored 512, 480, and 424 runs in the past 3 seasons. His performance in IPL 2020 saw him earn a place in the national squad for England T20Is.
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Suryakumar will look to keep up the run-scoring spree and be in the good books of the selectors with the T20 World Cup to follow.
Ishan Kishan
Suryakumar will be followed by the young wicket-keeper batsman from Jharkhand Ishan Kishan who scored 516 runs for the franchise last season. The duo scored over 900 runs together for the season and made the Mumbai middle-order very productive throughout the series.
He hit a staggering number of 30 sixes and batted at a strike-rate of 145.76.
Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya is still not fully fit to bowl for Mumbai Indians and will play as a specialist batsman. Despite staying away from bowling, Pandya played a crucial role last year by scoring 281 runs, batting at a strike-rate of 178.98.
He is yet to play in national colours in the new year and is likely to resume action during the T20Is against England.
Kieron Pollard
The big-hitting West Indian recently became the third batsman in international cricket to hit six-sixes in an over. If he brings the same form for Mumbai in the next season, they can well defend their title. Pollard scored 268 runs and picked up four wickets for the franchise last season.
The all-rounder from the Caribbean Islands brings a lot of experience to the table and has been a valuable campaigner for Mumbai Indians over the years.
Krunal Pandya
Krunal Pandya will be the second all-rounder in the Mumbai Indians line-up. Although he didn’t have a great run last year, Pandya’s present form is too good to be ignored. He has 388 runs and 5 wickets in five matches of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy.
The all-rounder from Baroda will look to have a strong IPL 2021 season and reclaim his spot back in the national side.
Piyush Chawla
Chawla will replace Rahul Chahar in the line-up after Mumbai Indians snapped the veteran spinner in the auction last month. The leg-spinner comes into Mumbai Indians with heaps of experience and Rohit will be keen to work with the veteran spinner.
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He is among the few bowlers to have picked over 150 wickets in the tournament.
Nathan Coulter-Nile
After releasing the Australian pacer in the retention window, Mumbai Indians bought him back for five crores for the next season. He was picked in the playing XI late last season and took five wickets in seven games. He scored 25 runs as well.
Trent Boult
The Kiwi pacer inevitably gave his side early wickets last season. He along with Jasprit Bumrah were the wrecker in chief for the opposition. Playing his first season for Mumbai Indians, Boult picked up 25 wickets.
He will hope to keep up the excellent work in the Mumbai jersey as Rohit Sharma & Co look to win their third title consecutively.
Jasprit Bumrah
Bumrah ended with 27 wickets for the franchise last season. Playing another IPL season, he has grown in confidence and is the side’s premier fast bowler. He has been released from the Indian squad for his proposed marriage and is expected to be back for the T20Is and ODIs.
The pair of Boult and Bumrah will be looking forward to yet another successful season for Mumbai Indians.
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