IPL 2022: Can the Mumbai Indians turn around their season?

Mumbai Indians are known to be perennial slow starters in the IPL. The last time they won their first match of the season was all the way back in 2012, when - ironically - they beat Chennai Super Kings in the opening game of the season. Since then, they have gone on to lose their first game of every season.

What makes this interesting is that before 2012, Mumbai had never won the title. Fast forward 10 years to 2022 and they are the most successful franchise in the history of the league, having won the title five times-in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020, and they entered the list of IPL winners. They have become synonymous with success, and the 2020 Mumbai Indians squad was widely considered one of the most ruthless ever assembled.

Check out the IPL purple cap 2022 here.

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐖𝐞. 𝐑𝐎. 🔥

#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians @ImRo45 https://t.co/OMbp5rUAt3

So what went wrong and why are Mumbai Indians languishing at the wrong end of the table 2 years later?

The simplest answer to that: Two new IPL teams and the IPL 2022 mega auction. Mumbai Indians had to start from scratch and try to replicate their champion squad, which was a very tough task for a number of reasons.

Firstly, all of their players from the previous year were hot property during the auction, which meant that it was impossible for them to buy back the likes of Quinton de Kock, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar, and Krunal Pandya - all of whom were pivotal in their title winning campaigns in previous years.

The only big player they did buy back was Ishan Kishan but he came at a ginormous price of ₹ 15.25 crores which severely depleted their purse and affected their ability to make other purchases. Ultimately, they ended up with a rather inexperienced squad with a number of shortcomings, which has been examined in detail in this article.

this has been the best #IPL

✅ two new franchises

✅ mega auction movement of players

✅ rookies trusted to start the season

✅ changing of the guard, passing the baton

✅ traditional franchises usurped by analytical approaches (modern game)

✅ fan engagement growing

These very shortcomings have led to Mumbai losing all of their four opening fixtures, and having a net run rate that would raise some concerns in the camp, given the competitiveness of a 10 team tournament.

In this article, we take a look at 3 things Mumbai Indians could do to turn their fortunes around in this edition of the Indian Premier League.