5 Mumbai Indians players who are in crackling form right before the tournament

Mumbai Indians, the most successful franchise in the Indian Premier League, has won three out of ten possible trophies.The team won its maiden IPL title in 2013 by defeating the Chennai Super Kings by 23 runs in the final. They won their second title in 2015 followed by the third in 2017. Rohit Sharma, the captain of MI during all these successful seasons, has been a pillar of their success.

Mumbai Indians' made a smart move by retaining the core of Indian players using the pre-auction retention. Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya were all retained by the blue outfit. They also bought back Kieron Pollard with the help of the RTM option.

Having formed the core team with the help of these four players, Mumbai Indians made some smart moves by purchasing international sensations like Pat Cummins, Mustafizur, JP Duminy, and Evin Lewis. The surprising aspect of MI is that they have also invested in a lot of uncapped Indian players.

There are few Mumbai Indians players who have hit form at the right time. They are either scoring a lot of runs or taking an array of wickets. Here is the list of five MI players who are in the middle of a purple patch.

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#5 Saurabh Tiwary

Saurabh Tiwary, once a star for Mumbai Indians, is now a forgotten hero. In 2010, he was one of the best performers in the IPL. His consistent performance in the domestic circuit coupled with his IPL performances earned him the Indian cap. However, his form dipped drastically after that.

Mumbai Indians bought back Tiwary for Rs. 80 lakhs in this year's IPL auction and it looks like they have made a smart acquisition. Out of nowhere, the left-handed batsman has hit a purple patch playing for Jharkhand in the Vijay Hazare trophy. Tiwary amassed 322 runs at an impressive average of 64.40 and scored his runs at a strike-rate close to 90.

It seems like the Bihar-born batsman has found his six-hitting form too as he smashed six sixes in the tournament. Tiwary continued his impressive form in the DY Patil T20 cup too as he scored an unbeaten 112 to help Reliance 1 defend their title.

Tiwary's form can help the inexperienced middle order of Mumbai Indians' batting unit.

#4 JP Duminy

Duminy is playing beautifully for Islamabad United in the ongoing PSL tournament

The left-handed batsman is one of the most consistent performers for the South African national side. He averages 38 from his 76 International games and maintains a similar average in the domestic T20 games as well.

Mumbai Indians needed to stabilize the middle order after losing Jos Buttler in the auction to Rajasthan Royals. They managed to get Duminy for his base price of Rs 1 crore. Duminy, who is a handy offspinner, scoring consistently in the past few months.

In the second T20 International against India, he scored a match-winning unbeaten 64. Post that, he scored an impressive 55 in the third T20I. There is no stopping Duminy in the ongoing Pakistan Super League as well. His scores read 14, 34, 43*, 21, 73* and 6 from his six PSL innings.

Duminy's form will help MI in not only strengthening their middle order but also help Rohit to open the innings. His calm batting in the middle overs will provide leeway for Pollard to unleash his fire hitting in the death overs.

#3 Pat Cummins

Cummins demolished English top-order at Adelaide

Pat Cummins' rosy start to his international career was marred by continuous injuries. Cummins spent five out of six years of his career on the sidelines. However, the Australian fast bowler has come back hard and has become one of the most potent bowlers in world cricket at the moment.

Mumbai Indians bought the fast bowler for just Rs. 2.2 crores in the IPL auction. He will lead the MI fast bowling attack with Jasprit Bumrah. Nick-named Cummo, the Sydney born international has been instrumental in Australia's impressive performance in the ongoing South African tour.

His 4/24 against England in the fourth ODI at Adelaide in January was devastating. His spell, rightly-so, got him the man-of-the-match award.

He was also the highest wicket-taker in the Ashes, claiming 23 wickets from the five test matches.

Cummins' imperious form will be key to MI's success in the upcoming edition of the IPL.

#2 Siddhesh Lad

Lad

has been the crisis man for Mumbai in this domestic season

Siddhesh Lad has been Mumbai's crisis man in this domestic season and has been in the form of his life. He played seven Ranji games and amassed 652 runs at an astonishing average of 60. He scored two hundreds and three fifties from his seven matches.

His purchase has turned out to be a masterstroke by the Mumbai Indians team management as they bought him for just Rs. 20 lakhs.

He continued his form in the Vijay Hazare trophy with scores of 70, 5, 118, 100, 10, 129, 11, which speaks volume of his purple patch. He scored 373 runs from his six games at an average of 62.

Lad will be an asset to the Mumbai Indians batting unit as he knows the Wankhede pitch much better than anybody. He has played his entire career for Mumbai and with his presence, the Mumbai Indians' middle-order look more formidable than how it looked initially.

#1 Jasprit Bumrah

Mumbai has the best T20 bowler in their arsenal

Bumrah is arguably the best limited-overs bowler in the world at the moment. He is the number one bowler in the ICC ODI ranking with 787 points and fifth in the ICC T20 ranking for bowlers.

His impressive form in the past few years has made the Mumbai Indians retain him using the pre-auction retention.

The 24-year old is the kind of pacer India had been looking for a very long time. His action is hard to read and sharply different from the other bowlers. He can, both, restrict and strike during the death overs.

He can single-handedly win games for MI and is that sort of a bowler who can help then win their fourth IPL title.