IPL 2018: Mumbai Indians squad analysis
When it comes to playing a fearless brand of cricket, Mumbai Indians, the most successful team in the history of Indian Premier League, instantly come to mind. The defending champions of the IPL will expect a lot from their reputed core of the team which is such an essential part of the Mumbai Indians campaign. As many as 18 players donned the MI jersey in 2017 season, however only six of those have made it to the MI team in 2018. While skipper Rohit Sharma, batting all-rounder Hardik Pandya and yorker king Jasprit Bumrah were retained by the franchise, the Right to Match Card was used to keep all-rounders Kieron Pollard and the uncapped Indian player Krunal Pandya in their side.
Mumbai Indians is known for keeping the core of the side the same, much like the Chennai Super Kings. In their quest for keeping the core alive, Mumbai Indians lost some of its consistent performers of the recent past. Somebody like a Nitish Rana, for instance, who played a handy role in Mumbai’s success in 2017 (13 matches, 333 runs, 3 half centuries) is not part of this year’s squad. Similarly, senior off spinner Harbhajan Singh (8 wickets in 11 matches in 2017) and Mitchell McClenaghan (19 wickets in 14 matches in 2017) are not part of the MI Paltan, as it is known among fans.
Many domestic players like young Ishan Kishan, Surya Kumar Yadav and Siddhesh Lad make up the Mumbai Indians squad. While Kishan is still finding his feet in the domestic circuit, Lad and Yadav have a fair bit of domestic cricket behind their back which will come handy when playing in tricky situations for the Mumbai Indians.
Mumbai Indians begin their campaign when they meet the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL opening game on April 7, 2018 at 8:00 pm (IST).
Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Mustafizur Rehman, Pat Cummins, Suryakumar Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Rahul Chahar, Evin Lewis, Saurabh Tiwary, Ben Cutting, Pradeep Sangwan, JP Duminy, Jason Behrendoff, Tajinder Singh Dhillon, Sharad Lumba, Siddesh Lad, Tare, Mayank Markande, Akila Dhananjaya, Anukul Roy, Mohsin Khan, Nidheesh
.