IPL 2021: SWOT Analysis of Mumbai Indians (MI)

The Mumbai Indians have been the most successful IPL franchise. They became the first team to win the IPL championship for the fifth time when Rohit Sharma led them to the title in 2020. The Mumbai-based franchise successfully defended their title despite having a disastrous record in the UAE.

IPL 2021 will likely take place in India. According to some reports, Mumbai will be one of the host cities of this year’s IPL. The Mumbai Indians will have the opportunity of taking the home advantage in IPL 2021. Wankhede Stadium is their fortress. It will be challenging for any franchise to stop the Mumbai Indians this year.

Speaking of the Mumbai Indians, the two-time defending champions made some exciting additions to their squad before IPL 2021. Some well-known players as well a few inexperienced names joined the franchise.

MI complete squad for IPL 2021

Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Anmolpreet Singh, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Mohsin Khan, Hardik Pandya, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy, Ishan Kishan, Quinton de Kock, Aditya Tare, Adam Milne, Nathan Coulter Nile, Piyush Chawla, James Neesham, Yudhvir Charak, Marco Jansen, Arjun Tendulkar.

Purse remaining- 3.65 Cr

SWOT Analysis of Mumbai Indians for IPL 2021

Strengths – Core group of players

The Mumbai Indians have retained their core group of cricketers over the last few seasons. Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Kieron Pollard have been the backbone of this franchise. Krunal Pandya has established himself as the number one spin-bowling all-rounder of the Mumbai Indians.

Besides, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan have been excellent for the Mumbai-based franchise ever since they joined the squad. Both Yadav and Ishan have broken into the Indian cricket team now. Meanwhile, Dhawal Kulkarni and Aditya Tare have also spent a long time at the MI camp.

The Mumbai Indians have backed their primary players. No matter how they perform, they know they would not lose their place in the playing XI. This confidence allows them to play their natural game. Giving how talented these stars are, it is extremely difficult for any opponent to defeat the Mumbai Indians if even two or three players from the core group fire for them.

Weaknesses – Back-up for Jasprit Bumrah

The Mumbai Indians have some big names like Trent Boult, Nathan Coulter-Nile, and Adam Milne in their overseas pace-bowling department. However, only Jasprit Bumrah is a reliable option present in their Indian pace attack. The Mumbai Indians have Dhawal Kulkarni but the Mumbai pacer was wicket-less in the four Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy matches he played this year.

Arjun Tendulkar has played only two T20s, while Mohsin Khan does not have the IPL experience. So, in case the Mumbai Indians team management decide to rest Bumrah or if he is unavailable due to any reasons, MI do not have a proper backup option. Even Hardik Pandya is unlikely bowl much in IPL 2021.

Thus, the lack of another big name in their Indian pace-bowling section might hurt the Mumbai Indians. However, the good thing for MI is that they have a solid Indian batting lineup. So, they can afford to have two overseas pacers in their playing XI if they want.

Opportunities – Chance for two overseas all-rounders to impress

The Mumbai Indians have added two foreign stars to their all-rounders’ section. The first is New Zealand’s hard-hitting all-rounder James Neesham. The Kiwi player can hit some big shots in the slog overs. Also, he can regularly give three-four overs of medium pace in the middle.

The second is the uncapped South African all-rounder Marco Jansen. The Mumbai Indians team management revealed that Quinton de Kock instructed them to go after Jansen at the auction. In case you didn’t know, Marco is 6 feet 8 inches tall. So, he could be the surprise package of IPL 2021.

The Mumbai Indians will likely play multiple games at the Wankhede Stadium. So, the two big hitters will have an opportunity of cementing their place in the MI squad for an extended period by impressing in IPL 2021. Jansen is only 20 years old and could be a long-term asset for Mumbai.

Threats – A few too many injury-prone players

The Mumbai Indians have made some questionable decisions ahead of IPL 2021. There are a few too many injury-prone cricketers in the Mumbai Indians squad right now. Speaking of the players retained first, Chris Lynn has a long history of injuries.

Shifting our attention to the new signings, Adam Milne and Nathan Coulter-Nile are two pacers who have suffered injuries frequently. In fact, both players have picked up injuries during the IPL season in their careers before. James Neesham has also missed IPL seasons due to injuries.

Since half of their overseas contingent has not been able to maintain fitness for an extended period, the Mumbai-based franchise could be in trouble if multiple players get injured. The injury concerns seems to be the most significant threat to MI before IPL 2021. It will be intriguing to see if the defending champions could complete a hat-trick of title wins.