Mumbai Indians Preview IPL 2021.

Let us make this quick. MI lift the trophy again. End of Preview.

Just kidding! But seriously, how good are they? Do not see too many changes, but a hattrick of IPL trophies is still a tough ask.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!

Also Read: IPL 2021 Auctions Review, MI All-Time XI

IPL History

2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020 (Champions), 2011 (3rd), 2012, 2014 (4th)

How Did They Do Last Year?

1st. The same old story. Champions for a 5th time. Another wonderful campaign. Here are some of the highlights.

• Suryakumar Yadav & Ishan Kishan storm into national spotlight after consistent performances. Add Quinton de Kock’s blazing starts & a certain Rohit Sharma and that was an enviable top order.
• The better the finishers, the more consistent a T20 side. Finishing prowess of Kieron Pollard & Hardik Pandya justifies this claim.
• James Pattinson, Jasprit Bumrah, & Trent Boult provided the firepower that the fast bowling bowling needed in sluggish UAE pitches.

Injury & COVID-19 News

No major injury or COVID-19 news for the Mumbai Indians as of yet, but cases in Mumbai are rising rapidly. The Road Safety Series in Mumbai has several former cricketers in quarantine. Fingers crossed, but keep checking your news if any local Mumbai players join the MI squad.

Complete Mumbai Indians Squad

Batsman: Rohit Sharma*, Saurabh Tiwary, Suryakumar Yadav, Anmolpreet Singh

WK: Ishan Kishan, Aditya Tare

All-Rounders: Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy, Arjun Tendulkar, Mohsin Khan

Fast Medium: Jasprit Bumrah, Dhawal Kulkarni, Yudhvir Singh

Spinners: Rahul Chahar, Piyush Chawla, Jayant Yadav

Overseas: Trent Boult, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Quinton de Kock (WK), Marco Jansen, James Neesham, Kieron Pollard, Adam Milne, Chris Lynn

*Captain

Predicted MI XI

Rohit Sharma (C), 2. Quinton de Kock (WK), 3. Ishan Kishan (WK), 4. Suryakumar Yadav, 5. Kieron Pollard, 6. Krunal Pandya, 7. Hardik Pandya, 8. Rahul Chahar, 9. Trent Boult,10. Jasprit Bumrah, 11. Adam Milne/ Nathan Coulter-Nile

How can an already dangerous line-up become even more dangerous? Instead of adding another foreign pace bowler, maybe Jimmy Neesham can slot in at #8. The Pollard-Pandyas-Neesham finishing line up can be quite something.

Watch Out For

• Adam Milne, the New Zealand speedstar of 2015 World Cup fame, went missing for a couple of years due to injuries. He has slowly made a comeback in the New Zealand squad through the Big Bash, but can he light up the IPL?
• With 11 games in Chennai-Delhi-Kolkata combined, spin will be very handy. Expect Rahul Chahar to be among the wickets. Since Krunal Pandya is more of a batting-allrounder, we may see a bit of Piyush Chawla and Jayant Yadav. Before the final that is.

Where Can Things Go Wrong For the Indians?

Mumbai play first 5 matches at Chennai. While familiarity can be a good thing, let us look at the opposition—strong RCB & Punjab sides and games against spin giants SRH (Rashid, Mujeeb, Nabi), DC (Ashwin, Axar, Amit Mishra), & KKR (Shakib, Varun, Harbhajan, Kuldeep, Pawan Negi).

I am betting against Mumbai Indians for their ‘home’ venues.

Venues & Fixtures

Venues

Chennai- 5, Delhi- 4, Bangalore- 3, Kolkata- 2

Fixtures

• 9 April: MI vs RCB (Chennai)
• 13 April: KKR vs MI (Chennai)
• 17 April: MI vs SRH (Chennai)
• 20 April: DC vs MI (Chennai)
• 23 April: PBKS vs MI (Chennai)
• 29 April: MI vs RR (Delhi)
• 1 May: MI vs CSK (Delhi)
• 4 May: SRH vs MI (Delhi)
• 8 May: RR vs MI (Delhi)
• 10 May: MI vs KKR (Bangalore)
• 13 May: MI vs PBKS (Bangalore)
• 16 May: CSK vs MI (Bangalore)
• 20 May: RCB vs MI (Kolkata)
• 23 May: MI vs DC (Kolkata)

• 25 May: Qualifier 1 (Ahmedabad)
• 26 May: Eliminator (Ahmedabad)
• 28 May: Qualifier 2 (Ahmedabad)
• 30 May: Final (Ahmedabad)

Prediction

Mumbai Indians always seem to bounce back after rough campaign starts. Given the schedule in IPL 2021, I think if they lose 3 or more of the first five, I do not think they can bounce back.

For a change, I am going for a different IPL winner this time around. They will probably win again, but for the fun of it, I have them winning from the reverse order this time.

Prediction	8th
Most Runs	Suryakumar Yadav
Most Wickets	Rahul Chahar
Emerging Player	Marco Jansen
Surprise Package	Jimmy Neesham
X Factor	Kieron Pollard, the leader
Broken Cricket Dream	Third Time…Is Not the Charm. May not win this time Also, Chris Lynn. Someone of his calibre might have to warm the benches two seasons in a row.

What do you think of the Mumbai Indians Preview? Your First XI? Will they make the IPL 2021 qualifiers?

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Copyright (2021: 4/3/2021)– @Nitesh Mathur, aka Nit-X – bcd@brokokencricketdreams.com