Mumbai Indians IPL 2021 Part II Preview

After winning the title in 2019 and 2020, the Mumbai Indians will be looking to complete the historic three-peat in IPL 2021, and with a squad that has very few weaknesses, the defending champions are one of the favourites to go all the way in the second half of the competition in the UAE.

Season Recap

In typical Mumbai fashion, the five-time champions got off to a sluggish start to the season as they lost their opening encounter to RCB. Rohit Sharma’s side struggled in the spinning conditions at the Chepauk as they scraped only two wins – against KKR and SRH – in their first five games in Chennai.

The five-time champions finally clicked into gear as they travelled to Delhi, where they easily dismantled the Royals before pulling off an outstanding run-chase against Chennai thanks to an excellent 34-ball 87 from Kieron Pollard.

With two wins from their final two games, Mumbai finally got the ball rolling before the tournaments’ suspension and currently find themselves at the fourth spot in the table with four wins and three losses so far.

Best Performer

Rahul Chahar was Rohit Sharma’s go-to bowler in the first half of the 2021 edition as the leg-spinner thrived in the spin-friendly conditions at the Chepauk. Chahar picked up 11 wickets with an economy of only 7.2 and is the highest wicket-taker amongst spinners so far this season. Chahar produced a match-winning spell of 4/27 against KKR to help MI defend a sub-par total, and it was these impressive performances that booked him a seat on India’s T20 World Cup Squad.

Biggest area of concern

Mumbai’s middle-order has been their x-factor in recent years, but the Pandya brothers were woefully out of form in the first half of the competition. Krunal only managed 100 runs at an average of 16 in the first half, while Hardik Pandya struggled on the sluggish pitches and averaged single figures in the first seven games.

Kieron Pollard did click into gear in the final match against CSK, but MI will need their trusted middle order to deliver once more if they wish to complete a hat-trick of titles.

Team News

Unlike most teams, Mumbai have been fortunate to retain their entire squad from the first half of the season with the championship core from the past two seasons still very much intact. Rohit Sharma will open the batting after his successful Test series against England, while the four overseas picks are expected to be Quinton de Kock, Kieron Pollard, Trent Bout and Nathan Coulter-Nile. 

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah