Best Mumbai Indians (MI) XI that played for India at the international level

Be it statistically or the trophy count, Mumbai Indians (MI) are the best team in the Indian Premier League (IPL). They have won 107 games in the history of the league which is the most by any team. And the turnaround has been from the 2013 season, when Rohit Sharma took over as captain. One of the reasons for MI’s success is the Indian core they have. Credit needs to go to the scouting team as well. They’ve unearthed multiple youngsters who have later gone on to play for India at the international level. In fact, there are a lot of Indian internationals who played for MI at some stage of their career. Thus, here we look at a Mumbai Indians XI that played for India in international cricket: Sachin Tendulkar Sachin Tendulkar IPL. (Photo Source: PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP/GettyImages) Perhaps, Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest ever cricketer to have played for India. There is hardly any batting record that Tendulkar hasn’t touched. Be it Tests or ODIs, the Mumbaikar has created or has broken most records with his bat. People all around the world fall at his feet and worship him as the ‘God of Cricket’. Be it India fans, cricket fans or Mumbai Indians (MI) fans, it’s the same for everybody. Tendulkar has scored 34,357 runs in international cricket with 100 centuries. He’s had a phenomenal record in international cricket. As far as the IPL is concerned, he played for MI for the first six years before bidding adieu to the game. The little master made 2334 runs at an average of nearly 35. He even won the Orange Cap in the 2010 season, becoming the first Indian to do so. Rohit Sharma Rohit Sharma. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS) Since 2013, Rohit Sharma has become one of the most important cogs in the shorter formats for India. That’s when he started opening the batting and the tide turned for him in international cricket. He’s been one of the most successful openers around the world since then. Moreover, he’s been getting the big scores consistently and even has three double tons to his name whereas most of the others don’t even have one. However, Rohit has never had an outstanding IPL or a season where he’s simply dominated. Still, he’s at the top of the run charts for MI. The MI skipper has amassed 3728 runs at an average of 31.86 and a strike-rate of 130.62. His batting numbers may not be as good but his captaincy has been spot on. Rohit has led MI to four titles since 2013 – every alternate year (2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019). His win percentage as captain is 58.65% which is one of the best in the history of the IPL. Ambati Rayudu Ambati Rayudu. (Photo Source: Twitter) Ambati Rayudu has played only for two teams in the IPL – Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He was with MI for eight seasons before he was bought by CSK in the 2018 auctions. Rayudu made his IPL debut in 2010 and was one of the attractive players. From that time, he was one of MI’s premier players until 2017. The Hyderabad-born cricketer scored 2416 runs which is the third-most for MI. He was a consistent member of the MI middle order for a large part of this decade. Moreover, it was on the back of a couple of good IPLs that Rayudu got a national call-up. He made his international debut in an ODI against Zimbabwe in 2013 and was around till the 2015 World Cup. He fell out of the scheme of things before returning last year and had a topsy-turvy time before he was ignored for the 2019 World Cup. Yuvraj Singh Yuvraj Singh (Photo: IANS) Many term him as one of India’s greatest match-winners in white-ball cricket, especially in the 21st century. Arguably, no player has had a better impact than Yuvraj Singh in big tournaments for India in the last 20 years. He’s had a massive hand to play in India’s wins in the 2007 T20 World Cup and then the 2011 World Cup. The Punjab southpaw retired earlier this year. He has played more than 400 international games for India. Yuvraj has aggregated 11,778 runs in his 17-year international career and has won matches single-handedly as well. Add to this, the 148 wickets too and he will definitely go down as one of the greats of Indian cricket. However, he didn’t really click in the IPL for any team. Yuvraj played for as many as six teams but couldn’t really get going. The last one he played for was Mumbai Indians in 2019. He made 98 runs in four innings before falling out of favour but did end his IPL career as a champion. Dinesh Karthik Dinesh Karthik. (Photo by Anesh Debiky / Getty Images) Perhaps, Dinesh Karthik’s best IPL season with the bat came when he was with the Mumbai Indians (MI). The Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper batsman was bought by MI in the 2012 season and he played for them for a couple of seasons. He even played a big part in their success in 2013. Karthik scored just 238 runs in the 2012 season before turning it around in 2013. He aggregated 510 runs and was very consistent in the middle-order. Despite a good season, Karthik wasn’t bought back by MI ever again but he did get to play for India. Karthik made his international debut even before MS Dhoni did. But as they say, he was just unlucky to be playing in the same era as Dhoni. The Tamil Nadu stumper’s opportunities came few and far in between as a wicket-keeper and at times as a pure batsman. Karthik has played 26 Tests, 94 ODIs and 32 T20Is for India and he was in the scheme of things until the 2019 World Cup as well but hasn’t played since the mega tournament. Hardik Pandya Hardik Pandya. (Photo: IANS) It was the T20 format (Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy) and then IPL that brought Hardik Pandya into the limelight. It was on the back of a successful 2015 season that he earned an India call-up in early 2016. Since then, he’s been a vital cog in every format, especially white-ball cricket. The younger Pandya made his international debut in Australia in a T20 game and soon that year, he made his ODI debut. He has been vital to India’s team balance over the last few years. Be it with the bat or ball, the Baroda pace-bowling all-rounder has the ability to make a big impact and he’s shown that as well. As far as the IPL is concerned, Pandya is one of the only six cricketers to have accumulated more than 1000 runs for MI. He has scored 1068 runs and they have come at a strike-rate of 154.78. To go with this, he’s also picked up 42 wickets with the ball. Krunal Pandya Krunal Pandya. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS) Krunal Pandya has played few games, both for India and in the IPL than his brother Hardik. He made his international debut only last year in November. The left-handed all-rounder has been constantly a part of the T20I set-up since then. He’s played 18 T20Is and has blown hot and cold. In the IPL, his impact has been similar to that of his younger brother, Hardik. Krunal is striking at 146.06 with the bat and has played one season lesser. With the ball, he’s been slightly better and has picked up 40 wickets at an economy of 7.16. The Pandya brothers have been essential to MI’s success over the last few years. Krunal Pandya has been a utility all-rounder for Mumbai Indians and is a regular for the franchise in the playing XI ever since he has made the IPL debut. Harbhajan Singh Harbhajan Singh. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS) Harbhajan Singh was MI’s spin talisman for a decade. The Punjab off-spinner played 136 games for the franchise which spanned across 10 seasons. He picked up 127 wickets and conceded runs at an economy of less than 7. He was a constant figure in the XI. However, MI and Harbhajan parted ways and he was picked by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in 2018. However, it’s been nearly four years since Harbhajan donned India colours. He last played a T20I against UAE in the Asia Cup in early 2016. But he has had a very good career. He’s picked up wickets in all formats (417 in Tests, 269 in ODIs and 25 in T20Is). But post the 2011 World Cup, Harbhajan was never the same. His form dipped alarmingly and despite coming back a couple of times, he never regained that old form. Thus, he was constantly out of favour for a major part of this decade. Zaheer Khan Zaheer Khan. (Photo by Anesh Debiky/Getty Images) We talk about Indian fast bowlers today. But back then, for the most part of the 2000s and early 2010s, there was a certain Zaheer Khan who used to be the lone ranger. He used to run in all day and bowl his heart out but didn’t get a lot of support from the other end. Zaheer is arguably one of the best fast bowlers India have produced. He was a master in all formats and a wily customer as well. He had the ability to outsmart the batsmen. The left-arm pacer took more than 500 international wickets. He played for the Mumbai Indians (MI) for three seasons – 2009, 2010 and 2014. In fact, till 2014, he kept swaying between MI and RCB. For MI, Zaheer picked up 26 wickets in as many games across those three seasons. Munaf Patel Munaf Patel. (Photo Source: Getty Images) A lot of people might not know this but Munaf Patel has played for MI. It was the three years between 2011 and 2013 that he represented MI and even did well. He took 40 wickets at an average of 21.55 and an economy of 7.43. Patel made his international debut in both Tests and ODIs in 2006 and was a consistent member of the team for a few years. He was even a part of the 2011 World Cup-winning team. He played most of the games during the World Cup and was Zaheer Khan’s new-ball partner. However, post that tournament, Patel played just a couple of series and both in 2011. Some dip in form resulted in him facing the axe and he has never been considered ever since. Jasprit Bumrah Jasprit Bumrah of Mumbai Indians. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS) For the last few years, Jasprit Bumrah has dominated discussions around the Indian pace attack. The Gujarat Lad has come in and has taken charge in no time. He’s become the premier fast bowler and the leader of the Indian pace battery. Bumrah made his international debut only in January 2016 and yet, he has taken 216 wickets across formats. He is lethal with both white and the red-ball. While he was doing well in domestic cricket, it was again the IPL that helped him display his skills. Having made his debut in 2013 and picked up Virat Kohli as his maiden wicket, Bumrah has jumped to being the third-highest wicket-taker for MI. He has 82 wickets and has been very consistent. In fact, Bumrah has become the heart of the Indian and the MI bowling attack.

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