IPL 2024 - Who Will be the Key For Mumbai Indians?

Hardik Pandya will be back leading the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024 [X]Hardik Pandya will be back leading the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024 [X]

Mumbai Indians’ decision to hand over the captaincy to Hardik Pandya has invited plenty of flak for moving past Rohit Sharma – their five-times winning captain. All said and done, it’s time for a new start for Mumbai under Hardik who led Gujarat Titans to two finals in a row, including a championship run in IPL 2022.

Mumbai peaked during IPL 2019 & 2020, winning two trophies in a row, and while they qualified for the playoffs in 2023, they didn’t have the best of runs in the last three seasons.

Comparison of MI performance [OneCricket]Comparison of MI performance [OneCricket]

Mumbai’s squad looks pretty fine for this IPL season. Although they have some loopholes like an unreliable spin attack and over-reliance on Jasprit Bumrah in the pace department, they have a good core of players to work with. Here we look at three Mumbai Indians players to watch out for in the upcoming IPL 2024.


Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma will key to MI chances this year [X]Rohit Sharma will key to MI chances this year [X]

Season after season, Rohit Sharma’s batting performance in the IPL hasn’t improved; it has been mediocre for seven consecutive seasons. His T20I numbers are better but the IPL is also too big a sample size to be ignored. Rohit is obviously a talented stroke-maker but his IPL performances don’t do justice to his extraordinary skillset. 

Rohit Sharma's batting performance over the years [OneCricket]Rohit Sharma's batting performance over the years [OneCricket]

With his elevated aggressive intent in the powerplay, the opening batter would hope to turn the tables around and make a big contribution with the bat this season. Mumbai Indians’ head coach Mark Boucher also said that relieving Rohit from captaincy will take some pressure off his back and bring the best out of him as a batter.


Hardik Pandya

While the cricketing discourse will revolve around his captaincy, Hardik Pandya’s all-round skills will be as important for his side. Hardik performed a different role as a batsman during his Gujarat Titans stint. All of his batting innings came at No. 3 or No. 4 in the past two seasons, while about 86% of his innings came at No. 5 or lower in his Mumbai Indians days.

Hardik Pandya is expected to delivery with both the bat and the ball [X}Hardik Pandya is expected to delivery with both the bat and the ball [X}

Despite considering all these factors, Hardik’s downfall as a hitter — in comparison to his peak in 2019 & 2020 — can’t be ignored. Also, the bowlers have come up with better plans to tackle him and exploit his weaknesses. Now, Hardik will be back as a finisher in the Blue & Gold and would want to replicate his peak performance.

Hardik Pandya's performance in the death overs [OneCricket]Hardik Pandya's performance in the death overs [OneCricket]

The all-rounder has confirmed that he will bowl in this IPL season. He can regularly chip in with a couple of overs and add balance to the side. Also, Hardik will be tasked to maintain a good team environment because of the not-so-easy situation in the group.


Ishan Kishan

Like Mumbai Indians, Ishan Kishan has also been in controversy in recent times, because of his absence from international and domestic cricket. Mumbai acquired Kishan for a whopping sum of 15.25 Cr in IPL 2022. While the youngster’s performance was poor in 2022, his returns improved in the last season.

Ishan Kishan needs to justify his price tag [X}Ishan Kishan needs to justify his price tag [X}

Mumbai have invested heavily in Kishan since 2018, not just in the past two seasons. Kishan offers a rare package: a young left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman with a flexible batting position. However, he has had just seasons with a dual of 25+ AVG & 135+ SR in two IPL seasons. 

Ishan Kishan's perfomance with the bat [OneCricket]Ishan Kishan's perfomance with the bat [OneCricket]

Despite some technical shortcomings in his game, Kishan is a fine T20 player because of his high intent and good batting surfaces. As an opener, the wicketkeeper-batsman can utilize the fielding restrictions and form a dangerous opening pair with Rohit Sharma.


Mumbai would hope for a blockbuster season from Kishan that justifies his high price tag. Also, the attacking batter would have extra motivation to perform and shut down the criticism and put his name forward in the race for a spot in the T20 World Cup 2024 squad.