The five-time Champions Mumbai Indians will look to add a record 6th title under the new captain of Hardik Pandya. Suryakumar Yadav might miss the first two matches as he is still recovering from an injury that he suffered during the South Africa T20I series.
They have retained their core unit from the 2023 season. They reached the playoff stage losing to Gujarat Titans in the qualifier 2. Mumbai Indians bought few quality players including Gerald Coetzee for Rs 5 Crore, Dilshan Madushanka for Rs 4.60 Crore, Shreyas Gopal for 20 Lakhs, Nuwan Thusara for Rs 4.80 Crore, Naman Dhir for Rs 20 Lakhs, Anshul Kamboj for Rs 20 Lakhs, Mohammad Nabi for 1.5 Crore and Shivalik Sharma for Rs 20 Lakhs.
Mumbai Indians would begin their tournament against Gujarat Titans at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on 24th March.
Here we look at the SWOT Analysis of Mumbai Indians for IPL 2024
Strengths
Mumbai Indians have a solid batting unit which comprises Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, and Hardik Pandya himself. They have other options including Nehal Wadehra, Tim David, Dewald Brevis, and Mohammad Nabi that can change the course of the match with their power-hitting.
During the 2023 season, Mumbai Indians chased down targets of 200 plus four times. With the way, the MI batting unit has, they will be one of the strong favourites to put pressure on the opponent bowlers with their explosive style.
Weakness
Mumbai Indian’s one weakness would be genuine spinner in the bowling ranks. Piyush Chawla had a great season for MI with 25 wickets from 16 matches. His consistency would be of great concern, which would haunt their bowling, especially after the first six overs.
Kumar Kartikeya and Shams Mulani have done well in the domestic circuit while Shreyas Gopal will also look to perform for Hardik Pandya picking wickets and stopping the flow of runs.
Opportunities
Mumbai Indian’s main issue was their bowling as Jofra Archer missed the IPL due to an injury while Jasprit Bumrah also missed due to an injury. Jasprit Bumrah returns to Mumbai Indian’s bowling lineup and will them a stronger unit.
The inclusion of Gerald Coetzee, Dilshan Madushanka, and Nuwan Thusara would bolster their bowling attack along with Bumrah. Akash Madhwal also showed his skills and would improve this season while Hardik Pandya would be a useful option. MI has a strong bowling attack, especially pacers which will trouble the opponent team.
Threats
The one major threat could be the removal of Rohit Sharma as a captain for this season and the making of Hardik Pandya as a leader. There should be trust between the captain, senior players, team management, and Mark Boucher which could lead to cracks.
MI will emerge as one of the strong contenders to win the IPL title for the sixth title. It will be interesting to see if Hardik Pandya, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and other players can work together.
Expectations
Mumbai Indians have a solid unit in terms of batting and bowling. They will look to continue from where they left last season hoping to win the title for the sixth time.
All the players selected proved to be match winners which can trouble the opponents in the batting order while the return of Bumrah makes them a solid bowling unit.
Full Squad
Rohit Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, N. Tilak Varma, Tim David, Vishnu Vinod, Arjun Tendulkar, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadehra, Jasprit Bumrah, Kumar Kartikeya, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Jason Behrendroff, Romario Shepherd, Hardik Pandya (c), Gerald Coetzee, Dilshan Madushanka, Shreyas Gopal, Nuwan Thushara, Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Mohammad Nabi, Shivalik Sharma.
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