IPL 2020: Mumbai Indians' strongest possible lineup

Upper Middle Order

Suryakumar Yadav was brilliant for Mumbai last term.

Rohit Sharma

The 2019 edition of the IPL culminated in Rohit Sharma lifting his fourth IPL title as a player and third as the captain of the Mumbai Indians, and the supremely talented right-hander also experienced an uptick in fortunes in terms of the batting numbers he registered last season.

Sharma was extremely disappointing with the bat in the 2017 and 2018 campaigns in the IPL; he scored 333 runs and 286 runs at an average of 23.78 and 23.83 respectively. In the 2019 season though, the Indian opener was able to claw back and register slightly better numbers – he scored 405 runs at an average of 28.92.

If Mumbai are to go all the way this year too and retain their IPL crown, they’ll need their captain to be firing on all cylinders and put in some box-office performances at the top of the order – something which he has done only in bits and bobs over the past few seasons.

Suryakumar Yadav

Mumbai Indians’ second-highest run-getter after Quinton de Kock in the 2019 edition, Suryakumar Yadav acts as the spine of the team’s top order, putting in consistent performances game after game and ensuring that he sticks around long enough before the power hitters come in and start launching the ball into the stands.

Contrary to the 2018 season where he primarily played as an opener and managed to score 512 runs at an average of 36.57, Yadav was Mumbai’s designated number three option last term.

Scoring 424 runs at a strike rate of 130.86, Yadav beautifully coalesced technique with precision and put in consistent displays throughout the course of the campaign.

This season, he’ll be expected to slot into the number four position and be a dependable figure who chips in with vital contributions in every game.

Kieron Pollard

The 2019 edition of the IPL was a season of resurrection of sorts for Kieron Pollard. After enduring a horrendous 2018 campaign wherein he scored a piddling 133 runs at a shambolic average of 19, it was brave on the Mumbai management’s part to continue trusting the 32-year-old West Indian.

For his part, Pollard managed to repay the faith invested in him in splendid fashion and proved to be Mumbai’s talisman last season, digging them out of precarious situations umpteen times. Pollard scored 279 runs last season at an average of 34.87, whilst maintaining an incredible strike rate of 156.74.

Fans at the Wankhede Stadium got to witness fireworks which emanated as a result of the ball meeting the middle of Pollard’s bat and disappearing in the night sky on many occasions last season, and they’ll be hoping for more of the same this time around.