Defending champions are looking to reinforce their dominance by winning yet another title by the end of the UAE leg of Indian Premier League 2021.
Led by Rohit Sharma, MI have won the Premier League in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020 seasons. Another title will further distance Indians from the league’s second most successful team, the Chennai Super Kings, who have won the IPL thrice.
But though Mumbai have tended to play their best cricket at the business end of the tournament, they’ve also been the most notoriously slow starters in IPL history. Despite boasting of a formidable squad and first-choice XI, MI somehow found themselves in slight trouble by the halfway mark in almost every edition.
This year as well, the case has been no different as Rohit’s men are placed fourth in the points table heading into the second half after winning four but losing three of their seven matches in India in April-May.
With the tournament following the caravan system to avoid excessive travelling for teams amid the Covid-19 pandemic, each team was forced to play their matches at neutral venues.
For MI, this meant having to play their first five games in Chennai and its dry, turning square – which is in complete contrast to the true, truer and truest surfaces seen at their home base, the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Spin, perhaps not being MI’s biggest strength, the team lost three of their five matches played in Chepauk. Their free-flowing batters, especially, found it hard to adjust to the ground initially. It resulted in a dip in their numbers for the first half.
Thankfully from the team’s perspective, MI still clinched two important victories during the Chennai leg of their campaign. And once the team went to Delhi – a ground also known for spin-friendly venues but with much more pace and bounce than Chepauk – they won both of their matches before the IPL was brought to a halt.
Prediction
This four-month break would’ve given MI a chance to reassess their strategies and tighten up their spin game for Chennai-like surfaces. They’ll also be feeling confident coming back to the Middle East, having shown last year that they can very well stand up to the challenges posed by the grounds in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.
MI won 9 of their 14 league games and topped the points table, before winning the first qualifier and the final, both against the Delhi Capitals. This time, they’ll be eyeing another similar run, resuming their campaign against arch-rivals CSK on September 19 in Dubai. They’ll be playing two of their remaining seven matches in Dubai, two in Sharjah and three in Abu Dhabi.
Captain Rohit is MI’s top run-getter of IPL 2021 at this stage, with 250 runs from his seven innings at an average of 35.71 and strike-rate of 128.20. Surya Kumar Yadav is second on the list with 173 runs at 24.71 per innings with a rate of scoring of 144.16.
On the bowling front, young wrist-spinner Rahul Chahar is at the top of the charts for his team with 11 scalps and an economy rate of 7.21.
As far as predictions go, MI once again look the strongest of all teams on paper heading into the second half. It would be no surprise if they collectively perform and enter the playoffs. They are also strong contenders to lift another IPL trophy on October 15 in Dubai.
