Having won the coveted trophy five times, Mumbai Indians (MI) is undoubtedly the most successful side in the Indian Premier League (IPL) history.
With the likes of skipper Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Jasprit Bumrah and others, the MI once again looks like the team to beat in the upcoming edition of IPL 2021, getting underway on April 9 in Chennai.
Former India batsman and commentator Aakash Chopra talked about Mumbai Indians as why they are so dominant in the IPL.
Highlighting the strengths of MI, Chopra said on his Facebook page: “The Indian core is the Mumbai Indians’ biggest strength and it is not only a core but one which can do the encore. You have Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik, Krunal, Bumrah and Rahul Chahar, they are the players who are going to play hundred percent in the playing XI and they are all match-winners in their own right.”
“Which team has this kind of Indian core, you will not get one of this quality anywhere because you may not find a better batsman than Rohit Sharma in white-ball cricket, a better bowler than Bumrah, and a better all-rounder than Hardik. Krunal is matching him shoulder to shoulder, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav have been absolute revelations,” added Chopra.
“Their second huge strength is Rohit Sharma’s captaincy. He is 24-carat-gold, the best-cut diamond who knows very well how to read the game. From his face you will not be able to figure out which way the match is heading, he remains a little poker-faced but the good thing is he has the ability to control the flow of the game, which is easier said than done,” said Chopra.
“The third thing is that they have one of the finest fast bowling attacks. They have Bumrah, Trent Boult, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Dhawal Kulkarni. Only one team can match their fast bowling repertoire and that is Delhi, who have Nortje and Kagiso Rabada. But they also don’t have an Indian replacement for Bumrah because there is only one Bumrah and Bhuvi is with Sunrisers Hyderabad,” concluded Chopra.
Significantly, having won the the trophy in 2019 and 2020, MI have the chance to script history as they would become the only team to win the tournament thrice in a row.