The Mumbai Indians have won their fifth Indian Premier League title, first time ever in back-to-back fashion. This team seems to have very little flaws and looks like a strong contender for next year to pull off a three-peat. So how did MI win this year? Let's take a look.
Breakout Campaigns For Ishan Kishan And Suryakumar Yadav
Ishan Kishan was a highly touted player when MI acquired him in 2018, but he never lived up to the hype. However, in 2020, Kishan broke out and showed why the club went after and got him. Kishan is a power hitter, his left handed bat was valuable, so it was a question of whether that potential could be tapped. It was in 2020 as Kishan finished as Mumbai's leading run maker and highest averaging batsman, plus was the fifth highest run getter amongst all teams. He had 516 runs with a strike rate of 145. Oh yeah, Kishan also had 30 sixes, the most of any batsman in the IPL this season. Yadav had always been a great batsman, but this year he was outstanding as there were many matches where he produced the most runs, including putting up around 70 runs in one particular one. Yadav was the quiet assassin for Mumbai in the competition and he showed up when needed. With him and Kishan producing the way they did in 2020, there was no way any team was going to deny them of the title.
The Bowling Department Was Superb
There is no question that Jasprit Bumrah is the best bowler in the IPL, but when Lasith Malinga decided to not play in 2020, questions were raised about the bowling department. However, the team went out and got Trent Boult which might have been the most underrated acquisition. Boult was acquired from the Delhi Capitals in an all-cash deal. While he had good seasons with Delhi, the team didn't feel like he was that impact type of player and Mumbai took advantage of that. Boult was the best bowler for Mumbai outside of Bumrah in 2020. That wasn't the only reason why the bowling department was so good, the team had depth. While there was concern with the spin bowling, Rahul Chahar, James Pattinson (who came on as a replacement for Malinga), and Nathan Coulter-Nile proved that there were many options for head coach Mahela Jayawardene, making his job easy.
The Lineup Was Deep
The core of Rohit Sharma, Krunal and Hardik Pandya, and Kieron Pollard all produced and having those four players as the core will make any lineup deep. However, with Yadav, Kishan, and Quinton de Kock, there wasn't anyone easy to get out. That's seven players right there who can do a lot of damage. Plus, there was depth just in case someone got hurt (which happened to Sharma) as they had players like Aditya Tare, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary, and Sherfane Rutherford who could fill in admirably. However, the lineup was so deep that they could have a great run producer up top to leadoff. That ultimately would become the captain's job as Sharma would be an excellent leadoff batsman for Mumbai. With all those options, Jayawardene had a dangerous lineup and could have it set up any way he wanted. Ultimately, he made the smart decision to have Sharma, the captain, leadoff.
Great Coaching And Scouting
Pravin Amre has been such an impactful coach for Mumbai that it's hard to ignore his success with the team. He was brought in to help Kishan, Tiwary, Yadav, and Krunal become the impactful players that they are and in 2020, it showed. Heck, he might be the biggest reason for the back-to-back titles. It clearly paid off and he might have made Kishan one of the best in the business. However, since John Wright took over the scouting wing in 2015, the team has four titles. But Wright is probably the biggest reason Amre is with Mumbai now. That isn't the only reason though why the scouting is so good. Outside of some other scouts, one of the biggest reasons is that Akash Ambani, the son of Mukesh Ambani, the richest man in India and owner of MI, who chairs the discussions of whom to bring in. He watches almost every T20 competition possible to help with the scouting and whom they want to acquire. Even with the limited money they had in the last IPL auction, Mumbai managed to acquire someone like Boult or Rutherford, but more so with Lynn, Tiwary, and Coulter-Nile. Mumbai realized they had the players, just needed some depth. Plus, they know which players to keep for their core. If there are five IPL titles under MI's name, then Mumbai must be doing something right with keeping the players they think will help them win.
Comments