The most successful IPL franchise in the history, Mumbai Indians, have won the title of the Indian Premier League for five times till the date. That shows how well organized the team actually is and there’s not much doing wrong that could be found in the franchise. They won the IPL victory in 2019, then did a double take in the next season and now are ready to become the first franchise to win the hattrick of the titles.
For the playing XI of the Mumbai Indians, Rohit Sharma, Keiron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya and Jsprit Bumrah are the players that picked for themselves. However, the likes of Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav, Trent Boult added to MI would only make them stronger.
Where everything seems to be just perfect for the franchise, the Former England batsman Mark Butcher points out that one area where MI will fall short and that is the fast bowling department. Aside from Bumrah, who could not play the limited over legs against England and the T20I leg against Australia, MI have Boult, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Milne and Dhawal Kulkarni are the other bowlers coming from the domestic career, and Butcher feels that this could be hurdle for the defending champions.
“You know, I’m looking at the fast bowling resource…I wonder if maybe they are a little bit thin on the ground there. They have Bumrah, but he’ had his problems with injury. They might be a little bit thin on the fast bowling department but they can still pretty much cover off everything else,” Butcher said in a podcast.
Apart from that, Butcher feels MI has all other departments cleared. Looking back to their first victory of the title in 2013, Butcher recalled how well they played even after following a string of losses, they regrouped and made the victory possible.
“And also, you have a system that is successful. I was there wen Ricky Ponting came over and was the coach for the first time. They needed to win something, like seven on the bounce to qualify and they did,” Mark said.
“They lost their first five or six games and still won the tournament. They have this resilience and the winning experience that draws team over the line where other franchises go ‘here we go again’. That is what makes the tough to beat.”
