Mumbai Indians' all-time best XI in IPL history

If Rafael Nadal is the king of clay and Real Madrid are the giants of European football, then it is safe to say that Mumbai Indians are the masters of IPL. Mumbai Indians had a rough start in the IPL as they failed to reach the playoffs in the first two seasons of the IPL but since 2013, they have gone on to win 4 titles.

Along with their 4 IPL crowns, they have also won 2 CLT20s. Although they have played a few home matches at DY Patil stadium and Brabourne stadium in the early editions of the IPL, they now play their home matches at the Wankhede stadium.

MI have won all their IPL titles in odd years: 2013, 2015, 2017 and most recently in 2019. The franchise has a plethora of options when it has come to batting, but their all-time highest run-scorer is Rohit Sharma. Talking about the bowling department, Lasith Malinga is not only their leading wicket-taker but also the leading wicket-taker in IPL history.

Sachin Tendulkar was their original captain in the first campaign. They kept experimenting with other captaincy options such as Harbhajan Singh, Shaun Pollock and Ricky Ponting but when they finally made Rohit Sharma their captain in the middle of the 2013 season, Mumbai Indians’ fortunes completely changed. Not only did they win that edition of the IPL, but they have by far been the most dominant side since ‘Hitman’ took over as captain.

Due to the fact that they have been so successful, the general feeling would be that there are a lot of players in contention to be in their All-Time XI but that is not the case because they have shown great faith in a certain group of players and those players have always delivered for them. MI are also known to have an excellent scouting network as they have produced world-class talents such as Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya.

Let’s take a look at their All-Time XI:

1. Sachin Tendulkar

It is almost impossible to talk about Mumbai Indians without mentioning the little master. Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest batsman to grace the cricket field, period. He was a part of senior players in the Indian cricket team who were not expected to perform well in the shorter form of the game but he proved the doubters wrong in great style.

Sachin was made the icon player and the captain of his home side, the Mumbai Indians in the inaugural edition of the competition. Sachin became the first Indian to win the orange cap in 2010 when he amassed a total of 618 runs in 14 innings at a solid average of 47.53 as Mumbai Indians reached the finals of the IPL.

Sachin has scored more than 500 runs in IPL in two different seasons as a captain. In 2010, his 618 runs were then the record for the most number of runs scored in a single edition, which was previously held by Aussie southpaw Shaun Marsh.

In 2011, Sachin Tendulkar scored his maiden century for Mumbai Indians as he scored 100* out of 66 balls against Kochi Tuskers Kerela. “God”, as he is often called, has the perfect end to his IPL career when Mumbai Indians won their first IPL trophy in 2013 after which Sachin announced that he will be retiring from the IPL. He is the only Mumbai Indians player to win the Most Valuable Player in an IPL season, having won it in 2010.