IPL 2022 Mumbai Indians Review
Five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians (MI) had a season to forget in the 2022 edition of the league. The blue-and-gold brigade finished rock bottom for the first time in their history with just four wins from 14 games.
It is never easy for any team to recover after they lose their main players in a mega auction. MI wouldn't have even thought in their wildest dreams that they would be finishing the season in 10th position.
Quite a few eyebrows were raised right from the start of the IPL 2022 mega auction. MI retained captain Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Suryakumar Yadav, and preferred Kieron Pollard ahead of other overseas match-winners like Quinton de Kock and Trent Boult.
The Auction
While many thought that Mumbai Indians would go hard for most of their players, that just wasn't the case. The likes of de Kock, Boult and Rahul Chahar went for reasonable amounts to other teams, while the MI think tank played the waiting game.
Ishan Kishan was someone they desperately wanted back. They broke the bank for the 23-year-old, shelling out as much as INR 15.25 crore for his services. MI also didn't look keen to buy some of the marquee players like David Warner despite them going for cheaper prices.
The team management spent big on the likes of Tim David (INR 8.25 crore) and also on Jofra Archer (INR 8 crore) despite knowing that the speedster won't be available for them this season. This meant that they had to compromise on their bowling, something for which they paid a heavy price on the field.
Positives
Although Mumbai Indians openers Rohit and Kishan had an underwhelming season, their batting line-up looks set for the future thanks to the unearthing of young talents like Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma and the hard-hitting Tim David.
Brevis made headlines at the 2022 U19 World Cup when he smashed 506 runs to be adjudged the Player of the Tournament. MI snapped him up at the auction and unleashed him in his preferred No. 3 position.
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Although his temperament will improve with time, the 19-year-old played some sensational cameos and gave a trailer of just what he is capable of. His four sixes off four balls against Rahul Chahar of the Punjab Kings earlier this season made him an overnight sensation in the IPL.
Varma was someone who the MI scouts were very excited about ahead of the season. The southpaw lived up to the faith shown in him, especially in the absence of Suryakumar Yadav due to injury. The youngster amassed 397 runs in 14 games, just missing out on the Emerging Player of the Tournament award.
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Quite a few were shocked when the Mumbai Indians dropped Tim David after just a couple of games. However, the 26-year-old waited for his chance and once he got a consistent run, he showed why he is almost undroppable in the T20 format.
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David scored 186 runs in just eight games at an incredible strike rate of 216.28 and played a crucial role in all of MI's wins this season. He is tipped to be the heir to Pollard's throne, given his finishing ability.
Areas to work on for Mumbai Indians
While the future of MI's batting looks bright, they need to stack up their bowling department with some quality options. In the absence of Archer, they relied heavily on Tymal Mills to provide support to Bumrah, but the left-arm pacer was too expensive and was dropped midway through the tournament.
Mumbai Indians have generally had quality spin options over the years. But this time with the likes of Murugan Ashwin and Mayank Markande, they shot themselves in the foot. Hrithik Shokeen has been someone they can groom into an all-rounder, but they will need a quality wrist spinner next season.
Mumbai Indians' pace bowling options like Basil Thampi and Jaydev Unadkat were all over the place in crunch situations and even Daniel Sams was disappointing in his first few games.
Although Archer might solve a number of issues in the fast bowling department, MI will need another quality Indian seamer to help Rohit make better use of Bumrah for other stages of the game.
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This season was indeed a difficult one for the Mumbai Indians, but it is the failures that help a champion team reflect and come back stronger. If they make some smart trades and have a good mini-auction, they could well win their sixth IPL title in 2023.