The Mumbai Teams are among the best-credited franchises in the history of the IPL. The Mumbai Indians are the joint most successful franchise in the competition alongside Chennai Super Kings with 5-IPL trophies.
However, unlike their closest rivals, CSK, the Mumbai Indians are not the team with many playoffs, as Mumbai has the highest conversion rate. They have won all of their final appearances except one, which they lost to the Chennai Super Kings.
However, last time around, the Mumbai Indians faced sheer humiliation as they ended their IPL 2024 campaign as the last team on the points table. This was in turn a humiliation for the new skipper, Hardik Pandya, who was brought into the side owing to the huge amount of money used to draft him from the Gujarat Titans.
After a dismal campaign in the IPL 2024, Mark Boucher, who was brought in as their head coach in 2023, went on to fade his role in the side. Boucher has now been dropped, and Mahela Jayawardene has again been brought back into the side as their head coach.
Jayawardene was their most successful coach, leading them to three IPL titles. The Mumbai Indians have also hinted towards retaining the likes of veteran batter Rohit Sharma alongside the Indian legendary trio of Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, and Jasprit Bumrah.
Three possible players who might be targets for MI in the mega-auction
1. Liam Livingstone: The English all-rounder who currently sits at the top of the ICC’s rankings for men’s T20I all-rounders, seems to be on the auction list of every possible franchise in the IPL if the Punjab Kings look to release him.
Playing for the Punjab Kings, he pushed himself to rescue the Kings several times they needed. The overseas batter can be a good recruit for the Mumbai Indians since they do not have a heavy back of foreign players. Livingstone can play the role of a big-hitting all-rounder down the order and can add his spin to his quality for the Mumbai Indians.
2. Tristan Stubbs: The South African batter who started off his career in the Indian Premier League as he was first picked up by the Mumbai Indians, though his weak performances found him released after the very first season. He was then picked by the Delhi Capitals in order to set the tone of their middle order in the absence of Harry Brook.
Stubbs since the last IPL has been in the form of his life playing for the Capitals and several other franchise-level teams while also for South Africa internationally. Leaving out Ishan Kishan, he can also be a wicketkeeping choice for the Mumbai Indians.
3. Yuzvendra Chahal: The Mumbai Indians have been a very convincing team, but since Harbhajan Singh, they have never had the likes of an expert spinner on their side. With some speculations suggesting the probable release of IPL’s highest wicket-taking spinner Yuzi Chahal from the Royals side, Mumbai can go all ends to rope in the great leggie. Chahal inclusion in the Mumbai Indians side will add a sense of completeness to their side
