Mumbai Indians, the joint-most successful team in IPL history with five titles, head into IPL 2025 after four disappointing seasons, but they will not be taken lightly by their opponents who will certainly be mindful of their stunning track record.
In the past four seasons, they qualified just once for the playoffs and finished at the bottom twice. They confronted many issues on and off the field last season as Hardik Pandya's appointment as new captain, replacing Rohit Sharma, did not go down well with a section of fans who jeered and booed him during both home and away matches.
To make matters worse, reports of internal bickering in the team also emerged.
However, a lot has changed over the past one year, and with things a lot more settled in the camp, MI are determined to stage a strong comeback in the glitzy league.
They have managed to assemble a compact team with most of the bases covered. Remarkably, MI have a settled look about themselves as their main players have been together for a long time.
At the Jeddah mega auction, MI made some strategic buys, in a bid to build a strong team around their solid Indian core consisting of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Jaspreet Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma.
Focusing on strengthening their bowling attack, they spent Rs 12.5 crore (Rs 125 million) to re-sign Kiwi pacer Trent Boult and snapped up swing specialist Deepak Chahar for Rs 9.25 crore (Rs 92.5 million).
They have also brought in T20 specialists Will Jacks and Bevon Jacobs, wicketkeeper-batter Ryan Rickelton, left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, all-rounder Corbin Bosch, left-arm pacer Reece Topley, and mystery spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
While the focus will be on their explosive batting lineup, MI's biggest strength might be their pace department, featuring Boult and Bumrah. However, MI will sorely miss Bumrah's services at least in the first few games due to his ongoing fitness-related issues.
In his absence, Chahar is expected to share the new ball with Boult. In skipper Hardik Pandya, they have a proper bowler who can win matches with his guile and variations.
Unlike their pace bowling, MI's spin attack lacks depth. The team will heavily depend on Santner, who has thrived in Indian conditions of late, to provide breakthroughs in the middle overs. Mujeeb, on the other hand, will be playing the IPL for the first time since 2021 following a long injury layoff.
Other than the 37-year-old Karn Sharma, MI do not have an experienced Indian tweaker in their ranks.
MI's batting line-up is filled with some big hitters, but the real test for them will be optimizing their bowling resources during Bumrah's absence at the start of the season.
They have two excellent powerplay bowlers in Boult and Chahar, but the lack of bench strength in the spin department and the absence of a death-over specialist could pose a real threat to their title aspirations.
Squad
Batters
Rohit Sharma, Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Verma, Naman Dhir.
All-rounders
Hardik Pandya (Captain), Bevon Jacobs, Corbin Bosch.
Wicket-keepers
Robin Minz, Ryan Rickelton.
Bowlers
Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Reece Topley, Mitchell Santner, Karn Sharma, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Vignesh Puthhur.
IPL Titles: 5
Mumbai Indians Schedule - IPL 2025
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