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Mumbai Indians: Pandya in the house, bowling back-ups the focus
With only a purse of ₹17.75 crore left, the five-time IPL champions may have to depend more on their impressive scouting system to fill key slots.
We are talking about a franchise that has won the joint-most titles in IPL's 16-year history. Mumbai Indians' five titles have come in the last 11 years, which shows greater dominance than Chennai Super Kings in the more recent past. But then, they haven’t won a title for three years running. In two of those seasons, they didn’t qualify for the playoffs. Last year, they regained some ground but were knocked out in the second qualifier. MI’s recent show has been chequered for a team that was used to blowing the opposition away.
They are after glory again, at any cost. Hardik Pandya’s staggering return through a much talked-about trade may be a step in that direction. Getting Pandya back at a ₹15 crore deduction from the purse is a coup considering Punjab Kings had to spend ₹18.5 crore to get England all-rounder Sam Curran at last year’s auction.
To get Pandya back even before entering the auction room solves many of their immediate as well as long-term problems. With valuable captaincy experience to boot, Pandya is the MI captain-in-waiting. Whether he takes over from this season itself has not been declared yet. Surely, the decision has been made.
The man in charge for the past 10 years has been Rohit Sharma, under whom they have built their entire legacy. While Hardik’s return may potentially complicate the equation within the leadership group, Sharma’s recent exciting batting tempo is something the team can greatly benefit from. If he can bat anything like he did in the ODI World Cup powerplays, his opening combination with Ishan Kishan will be one to watch. Particularly with the T20 World Cup around the corner.
Pandya likes to bowl with the white kookaburra. Once fit, he can potentially bowl three powerplay overs at a stretch for MI. It would allow them to preserve Jasprit Bumrah to bowl the more difficult overs – try to break partnerships or arrest an onslaught in the middle overs and at the death, where there are few like him.
SHOP FOR PACERS
MI would still like to have more bowling back-ups. It’s one of the few teams to have many overseas slots open in the playing eleven. That’s mainly due to a stable batting core – Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav and Pandya. This is literally among India’s shortlisted batting order in T20Is. Other than big-hitter Tim David, no overseas player is a sure starter in the MI line-up. They will certainly go shopping for some quality pacers. The one problem they do have is they are likely to be outpriced given the limitations of their purse ( ₹17.75 crore).
That’s where their scouting work may have to come to the fore. Best known for discovering gems like Bumrah and Pandya with their network of talent scouts, MI’s more recent finds have delivered mixed results. Kumar Kartikeya, Nehal Wadhera and Akash Madhwal are coming along well. But they have also lost patience with others like Hrithik Shokeen, Mohammed Arshad Khan, Raghav Goyal and Ramandeep Singh -- all released before the auction.
SPIN VOID
MI’s batters carried the team to the playoffs last season. Thanks to the Impact Player rule and using the old Chennai Super Kings playbook of turning their home venue into a fortress, MI was able to post massive totals at batting friendly Wankhede. But spin bowling remains an area that requires immediate reinforcements. They were able to use seasoned leg-spinner Piyush Chawla smartly, but his last Mushtaq Ali Trophy showing was lacklustre. Should he go for runs, left-arm spinner Kartikeya is the only other spinner they have. Would they go after Sri Lanka leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga? Should he come too steep, there are other overseas spin options like Tabraiz Shamsi, Adil Rashid, Ish Sodhi and Keshav Maharaj who they may think of.
MI have not had a great time at the auction table of late. Their big gamble on Jofra Archer in the 2022 auction backfired. They are still smarting from it. Australian all-rounder Cameroon Green was their most expensive buy in the last auction, someone touted as a long-term prospect. Pandya’s trade though forced them to sacrifice Green, who has moved to Royal Challengers Bangalore.
With eight slots to fill from their limited purse, MI’s strategy room will not remain in the limelight. But having built a reputation, they will certainly be watched.
