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Three-time IPL champions, Mumbai Indians (MI) have a knack of getting into form and winning the tournament every alternate year. Since their first championship win in 2013, where they also managed to win the, now defunct, Champions League T20 tournament, MI have won the tournament in 2015 and 2017 as well.
With a 5th place finish in IPL 2018, MI were in need of certain changes to make the squad the champion squad that it once was. Keeping that in mind, Mumbai traded in Quinton de Kock, the South African wicketkeeper-batsman in the pre-auction, and to balance the books, they had to release Mustafizur Rahman and Akila Dananjaya.
Later during the time for the extension of contracts, MI further released Saurabh Tiwary, Pradeep Sangwan, Mohsin Khan, MD Nidheesh, Sharad Lumba, Tajinder Singh Dhillon, JP Duminy, and Pat Cummins, either due to a dip in performance in or since IPL 2018, or because of the fact that they didn't fit into MI's scheme of things for IPL 2019.
The way the MI owners and management went about in the December 18 auction proves the point that while, on one hand, they respect the experience brought in by the likes of Lasith Malinga (₹2 cr) and Yuvraj Singh (₹1 cr), on the other hand, they are banking upon the energy and excitement of young players such as Barinder Sran (₹3.40 cr), Anmolpreet Singh (₹80 lakhs), Pankaj Jaiswal (₹20 lakhs), and Rasikh Salam Dar (₹20 lakhs).
Just after the auction, Mumbai managed to trade in Jayant Yadav, an off-spinner all-rounder from Delhi Capitals to complete their squad for IPL 2019.
Mumbai Indians are one of the few squads with the right mix of youth and experience. If one has to choose it's best possible playing eleven, there are 4 internationally well-established players, an almost 32-year old forgotten limited-overs cricketer, 3 of whom are quite new/inexperienced to the international scene and 3 uncapped future stars of Indian cricket.
Read more to see who figures in the list.
Opening pair (1 - 2): Rohit Sharma (c) and Quinton de Kock (wk)
Mumbai Indians co-owner, Akash Ambani has confirmed in a post-auction press conference that Rohit Sharma would open the innings for MI in IPL 2019. This comes as a relief for all the fans of MI and Rohit, who wanted him to open the innings instead of playing in the middle-order.
Quinton de Kock is one of the top left-handed batsmen in the world and would play the perfect partner for Rohit at the top. A technically sound batsman, Quinton paces his innings well and has the capability to change gears in the death overs.
He was the second highest run-getter at the recently concluded, Mzansi Super League T20 tournament in South Africa, where he finished the season with 412 runs at a strike rate of 169.54 and an average of 58.85.
Other Batsmen (3 - 4): Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan
Suryakumar Yadav had his best IPL season in the 2018 edition. In the 14 matches he played, he scored 512 runs at a strike rate of 133.33 and an average of 36.57 as he emerged Mumbai's highest run-getter in the tournament.
His performance on the domestic circuit has been good but not exceptional to demand a place in Team India's squad. With him getting closer to the 30-year age mark, he has a couple of years to perform consistently in order to put him in a serious reckoning for the national side and nothing better than IPL 2019 where he can, with his performance, carve himself a place in the squad for World Cup 2019.
While Ishan Kishan lacked consistency in the 2018 season, his technique combined with his ability to take on the bowlers and clear the ropes, despite his diminutive stature, make him a perfect match for the MI setup.
Mumbai Indians has been known to nurture talent, provide them with sufficient opportunities to prove themselves, the Pandya brothers being the prime example. Hence, they should stick with the 20-year-old, Ishan who has proved himself a bonafide match-winner in his own right.
His 62 off just 21 balls at an astounding strike rate of 295.23 with 5 fours and 6 sixes against the Kolkata Knight Riders last season, is a prime testament of what he offers to the side.
All-rounders (5 - 6 - 7): Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Ben Cutting
Since Hardik is a key player in India's ODI squad, hence, in order to reduce his chances of injury and fatigue, he has been considered in the team solely as a batsman.
While Hardik was the top wicket-taker (18 wickets) for Mumbai in IPL 2018, he has been a match-winner in the middle-order for Mumbai in the past two seasons. He was phenomenal in 2017 with 250 runs at a strike rate of 156.25 and an average of 35.74 as he played the role of a finisher in the team.
As his batting position was shuffled quite a bit in 2018, in order to accommodate Rohit Sharma in the middle order and give opportunities to Kieron Pollard, he couldn't quite get the stability that he needed.
Krunal is a perfect fit for the number six position as he has the capability to score runs despite the bowling or his team's position in the match. His ability to score runs all around the wicket helps take off the pressure in run chases and make him the ideal choice to come before the likes of Pollard and Cutting.
A level-headed cricketer, Krunal also has consistently shown his ability to contribute with the ball with his tight bowling which helps curb the oppositions' scoring at any point in the game.
With his recent international debut and a good performance in those matches, including a Man-of-the-Match award in the latest T20I against Australia, Krunal should be on cloud nine, and his confidence would only benefit Mumbai Indians who have shown immense faith in his talent.
This position was a toss between Kieron Pollard and Ben Cutting, and Cutting won the spot on the strength of his bowling.
Since Hardik wouldn't be bowling as much as would like to due to World Cup concerns, the team needed a fast-bowling option, and who better than Ben Cutting, who his handy with the bat, a terrific fielder, and was the sixth-highest wicket-taker with 13 wickets in 11 matches in this year's Caribbean Premier League (CPL). He would play a similar role in the side to what Dwayne Bravo plays for the CSK.
He last featured in the Australian colors almost five years back in 2014 and since then has been quite low on the consideration list for the national side as other youngsters have made their place in the squad.
While his international experience is less (4 T20Is and 7 ODIs), he has quite a significant experience of playing T20 tournaments all around the world, and his experience would prove critical for Mumbai.
Spinners (8 - 9): Jayant Yadav, Mayank Markande
The recent trade in of Jayant Yadav in the MI squad gets him direct entry into the playing eleven on his recent performance in the ACC Emerging Players Asia Cup and the variety he brings to the Mumbai bowling as an economical right-arm off break bowler.
He got 7 wickets in 4 matches at an economy of 3.57 to emerge the second highest wicket-taker in the tournament. The fact that he is handy with the bat adds onto the reasons why he should be a part of the team.
After playing just a single ODI for the national side, all the way back in 2016, Jayant has been replaced in the squad by Kedhar Jadhav who's renaissance as an off-break, lower-middle order finisher has made him a critical part of the ODI team.
Mayank Markande was 'the' breakout star for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2018. Although on the expensive side, this young leg-spinner isn't afraid to toss up the ball to get his team the crucial breakthroughs.
He started the season with a bang with a 3-wicket and a 4-wicket haul in the first two matches against CSK and SRH respectively but somewhere in the season lost his rhythm and could manage just 7 wickets in the remaining 12 matches.
He has shown consistent improvement in the domestic season and has emerged the top wicket-taker in the recently concluded Emerging Players Asia Cup with 8 wickets in 3 innings at an average of 15.75.
He is on the cusp of his national side debut, fighting Yuzvendra Chahal for a place in the side. If the 2019 season, both IPL and domestic, goes well for him then he could see himself fast-tracked to Team India.
Pacers (10 - 11): Jason Behrendorff, Jasprit Bumrah
Although all of Mumbai Indians and IPL fans would love to see Lasith Malinga feature in the team, his age and form do not seem to work in his favor.
In a team filled with right-arm fast bowling options, a left-arm pacer is needed to provide the necessary variety to the Mumbai Indians bowling attack. The MI squad has three such bowlers - Mitchell McClenaghan, Jason Behrendorff, and Barinder Sran. While McClenaghan and Sran have not been playing cricket on a regular basis due to a lack of form, Behrendorff has made his way to the Australian T20I side on the basis of his consistent performances.
While he is 28 years of age and made his Australia T20I debut in 2017, his experience of just 5 international matches makes him a relatively newer face on the international as well as the IPL scene.
His ability to swing the ball would help in getting crucial breakthroughs in the powerplay which MI's bowlers failed to do in the last season.
There can be no limited-overs team in the world currently where Jasprit Bumrah wouldn't be a part of the playing eleven.
As far as IPL is concerned, he has been a consistent performer for the Mumbai Indians since the 2016 season and has only grown in stature and experience as the years have progressed. An exceptional fast bowler, he is as efficient in the powerplay overs as he is deadly at the death.
With Bumrah rounding off the playing eleven, the Mumbai Indians squad looks the right balance of youth and experience and continuing the tradition, 2019 could again be the year that they finish as the champions.
The balance of youth and experience give the Mumbai Indians the calmness as well as the hunger that is necessary to win a tournament of the stature of IPL.
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