The Big Picture

The three-time IPL champions had a disappointing 2018 campaign where they failed to make it to the playoffs.

Much of Mumbai Indians woes in 2018 came down to a lack of a potent middle-order and lack of support to Jasprit Bumrah in the fast bowling department. At the recently concluded IPL auctions in Jaipur, the Rohit Sharma-led unit tried to plug in the aforementioned holes with some smart buys that have the potential to serve them good in the coming season.

Retained: Rohit Sharma (C), Anukul Roy, Siddhesh Lad, Aditya Tare, Quinton de Kock, Evin Lewis, Kieron Pollard, Ben Cutting, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Jason Behrendorff, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Mayank Markande, Rahul Chahar

Released: Tajinder Singh Dhillon, JP Duminy, Pat Cummins, Mustafizur Rahman, Akila Dananjaya, Saurabh Tiwary, Pradeep Sangwan, Mohsin Khan, MD Nidheesh, Sharad Lumba

Traded: Quinton de Kock from RCB

Players Bought:

Barinder Sean – Rs 3.40 crore, Pankaj Jaiswal – Rs 20 lakh, Rasikh Salam – Rs 20 lakh, Yuvraj Singh – Rs 1 crore, Lasith Malinga – Rs 2 crore, Anmolpreet Singh – Rs 80 lakh

Here's a point-by-point analysis of Mumbai Indians squad:-

Batting

Mumbai Indians traded Quinton de Kock from Royal Challengers Bangalore prior to the auctions and now have the likes of Rohit Sharma, Evin Lewis, rookie Anmolpreet Singh and Ishan Ishan in their line-up.

Last year, due to a lack of quality middle-order batsmen, Rohit Sharma had to slot himself down the order. This year, MI tried to plug the holes by opting for Yuvraj Singh.

With Quinton de Kock and Evin Lewis at the top of the order, Rohit Sharma could slot himself at the No.3 spot while Suryakumar Yadav and Yuvraj Singh can lead the middle-order.

All-rounders

In Ben Cutting, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, and Kieron Pollard, Mumbai Indians have three world-class all-rounders who can help change the course of the game with both bat and ball.

This will be a crucial season for Kieron Pollard. The veteran all-rounder had a lackluster season last year, adding to his teams' misery. Krunal Pandya had a great start to his T20I debut and will look to carry his form for the franchise. Ben Cutting has been in great form for various T20 franchises across the world, Indians would do well to make better use of him unlike they did last year.

Bowlers

Spinners

Mayank Markande bamboozled the likes of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli in his debut year at the IPL last year but tapered off at the backend of the season. One year later, with the experience of playing for India A and India U23, for whom he emerged as one of the leading wicket-taker in the recently concluded ACC Cup, Markande is primed to lead the spin bowling department with able backups in the form of Anukul Roy and Rahul Chahar.

Fast Bowling

This was a key area of concern for the three-time champions last year. In the absence of Lasith Malinga and inconsistent performances from the likes of Mustafizur Rahman and Mitchell McClenaghan, Mumbai Indians struggled to find an able partner for Jasprit Bumrah.

This year, though, after having released Rahman, Mumbai roped in veteran Lasith Malinga back into the set-up, and with Jason Behendroff, Mitchell McClenaghan and Adam Milne serving as ideal backups, the fast bowling looks as potent as ever.

Ratings –

Batting – 8/10
All-rounders – 9/10
Bowling – 9.5/10

Let us know your thoughts on the Mumbai Indians team and if they have a chance to reclaim their title.