Strong Indian Core, Rejuvenated Leadership - SWOT Analysis of MI for IPL 2024
Mumbai Indians will be looking to redeem their sixth title in IPL 2024 (Source: x.com)
Leaving out Hardik Pandya was never an easy task for the Mumbai Indians management during the mega-auction for 2022 Indian Premier League. But the five-time champions' immense quality left them with no other options but to do the unthinkable.
Talk about 'unthinkable', here's another - Hardik Pandya returns to Mumbai Indians ahead of IPL 2024. The news surfaced across social media, made the headlines, thereby sprinkling a reason for the MI fans to be happy. However, the think-tank's decision to crown former Gujarat Titans captain, who steered the side to championship and runners-up in the last couple of years, saw the 'Paltan' divided.
How good a move was it? Did Rohit Sharma's batting in IPL struggle with captaincy pressure? Or is the franchise looking to extend the legacy by passing the torch to one of their home-bred stars? We're yet to get the answer.
For now, we can only have a deep dive into how the squad look, if the new leader refurbish their glitterati cabinet with another silverware?
MI Full Squad for IPL 2024
Batters: Rohit Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (WK), Tilak Varma, Nehal Wadhera, Vishnu Vinod (WK), Shivalik Sharma
All-rounders: Arjun Tendulkar, Shams Mulani, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Hardik Pandya (C), Naman Dhir, Mohammad Nabi, Anshul Kamboj
Spinners: Kumar Kartikeya, Piyush Chawla, Shreyas Gopal
Pacers: Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Madhwal, Jason Behrendorff, Gerald Coetzee, Dilshan Madushanka, Nuwan Thushara
Strengths of Mumbai Indians for IPL 2024
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A lot of MI's success will depend on their Indian core (Source: x.com)
Indian core
The Mumbai-based franchise have an excellent core group of Indian cricketers that includes Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma. These players have been associated with the franchise for quite some time with Varma being the younger of all. All these players are capped individuals and are aware of their responsibility in the franchise.
While Rohit Sharma and Bumrah spearhead their respective departments, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya are just following the footsteps. The likes of Varma and Kishan would determines young blood full of charisma on the field. Its very important to have a consistent pool of local players in franchise leagues and Mumbai Indians just have it intact.
Formidable old-ball attack
A side that once had the likes of Zaheer Khan, Shaun Pollock, Mitchell Johnson in their new-ball attack never did shy from possessing an equally threatening old ball combination. This year is no different. While Jason Behrendorff is a reliable candidate to stamp authority with the new ball, the likes of Gerald Coetzee, Akash Madhwal, Nuwan Thushara and Bumrah could constitute a deadly community with respect to their old-ball mastery.
Weakness of Mumbai Indians for IPL 2024
Head-ache for front-line spinner
Spinners have always been a matter of concern for MI since half a decade. Although Piyush Chawla stepped up at the need of the hour in the last season, the veteran lacks game-time in the past 12 months. They think-tank have other options such as Shams Mulani, and Kumar Kartikeya but they are yet to prove their mettle in this stage.
While Shreyas Gopal has evolved as a proper all-rounder for Karnataka and Mohammad Nabi fits the bill with his ability, the former hasn't been at his peak with the ball and Nabi playing all league stage matches has more to do with the limit of four overseas options available in IPL.
Opportunity of Mumbai Indians for IPL 2024
Hardik Pandya will be leading the MI team for the first time (Source: x.com)
Hardik Pandya's chance to extend MI Legacy
As the Mukesh Ambani-owned franchise announced Hardik Pandya as the new captain Mumbai Indians, it would be seen if the all-rounder could transcend his excellent captaincy stint with the Gujarat Titans in his current franchise. The Gujarat-bred cricketer won the championship with the Titans in IPL 2022 and went on to become the runners-up in IPL 2023.
There is no doubt that the owners of the franchise made a huge move by dropping Rohit Sharma, the one who led them to five champions, from captaincy role and acquired Hardik to have his captaincy services. It could not be a better opportunity for the 30-year-old to put the doubters behind and lead them to a record six-time title.
Finishing duties
Kieron Pollard has been having a great time in the franchise league tournaments across the globe. His impressive numbers with the bat in the lower-middle order for MI Emirates, MI Cape Town and Karachi Kings are an epitome of his ability. However, the Caribbean all-rounder left his finishing skills behind when it comes to the most lucrative cricket league.
To fill Pollard's void, the franchise snapped Tim David in the auction. The move did not fare as expected last edition, and hence the management added more layers in the form of Romario Shepherd and Hardik. The triumvirate (Romario, Hardik and David) has the ability to cause destruction in the opposition camp and the franchise would be hoping that they bring back glories of finishing matches or catalysing the team's totals during the later phase of the games.
Threats of Mumbai Indians for IPL 2024
Injuries and the T20 World Cup
Plenty of Indian players are going to take part in IPL 2024 with the 2024 T20 World Cup following in the first week of June. It would be seen how the players manage their workload. While there's a dark cloud over the IPL availability tenure of Suryakumar Yadav, injury prone candidates such as Hardik and Bumrah needs to be managed with caution. Eventually, the question boils down to the priority of franchise or international fixture.
SWOT Analysis of MI for IPL 2024 (Source: OneCricket)
Predicted XI of MI for first match of IPL 2024
Predicted XI of MI for their first match in IPL 2024 (Source: OneCricket)
Mumbai Indians' Squad Evaluation
Batting
Experience: 8.5/10
Power: 9/10
Depth- 7.5/10
Finishing- 8/10
Rating- 8.25/10
Bowling
Experience- 8.5/10
Powerplay Potential- 8/10
Middle-overs Potential- 7.5/10
Death overs- 9/10
Rating- 8.25/10
Overall Rating - 8.25/10
Prediction for Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2024
The Mumbai Indians squad have a good blend of youth and experience. Apart from having a great local pool of players, the franchise have good bench strength for various departments. It all comes down to how the think-tank manage workload and injuries and how soon can they form their winning XI. Keeping all these in mind, they are one of the favourites to make the playoffs an it won't be surprising if Mumbai clinches their sixth title this season.
 "Arijit Kundu")
