The most awaited fun88 festival – Indian Premier League (IPL), finally returned to its regular home and away games format with some changes in rules. Be it the challenge to the umpires’ decision on no and wide balls or the introduction of an impact player; the IPL 2023 added some extra spices to the fast format of the game. But after 8 games, it can be clearly seen that none of the teams have used these changes wisely. So far, Dhruv Jurel (32* off 16 balls) was the only Impact sub who produced some shift yet failed to win the game for Rajasthan Royals.
Defending champions, Gujrat Titans won both their games with ease. At the same time, big teams like Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings struggled to find the right combination after being hit by a series of player injuries. The 8 games also resulted in three injuries. While GT’s Kane Williamson had to leave the IPL after the first game, Royal Challengers Banglore’s Reece Topley and Punjab Kings’ Bhanuka Rajpaksha left the field retired hurt due to respective shoulder and hand injuries.
Virat Kohli’s fabulous hitting on his return to the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Mark Wood’s sheer pace giving the first fifer, and Ruturaj Gaikwad’s clean hitting were some of the eye-catching recaps from the last week. In all this chaotic support of fans, 5 times champion Mumbai Indians were seen as a little out of touch in all departments. Let’s scrutinize their team to check if they have the right combination to take the trophy home for the sixth time.
MI Team Setup in IPL 2023
Mumbai Indians are sticking to the same batting lineup as that of the last year. It is a good mixture of left and right-hand batters at the top, followed by the destructive all-rounders in the middle. MI skipper Rohit Sharma will open with Ishan Kishan. They have been opening together since 2018, and it is highly unlikely that MI will try another combination to open the innings. Last Season’s find, Tilak Verma, has fixed himself in playing eleven after scoring 397 runs in the IPL 2022. He scored 84 off 46 in the first game of this season against RCB and was the only batter who seemed to be in touch from the MI camp. He is MI’s batter to look out for this season.
Mr 360 Suryakumar Yadav, at number four, has been MI’s MSP for the last four years. But Surya’s form is being questioned after three consecutive golden ducks in the ODI series against Australia. In fact, the number one ranked T20I player scored just 15 off 16 balls against RCB in the first game. Mumbai Indian’s most expensive player Cameroon Green was promoted to the number three position in the first game. But the Aussie is yet to get the knack of the IPL. Keeping him in the middle order with Tim David will be ideal. MI has filled its team with a number of all-rounders. But excluding Green Green and David, all are uncapped Indian players who lack international experience. MI went with Nehal Wadhera and Hrithik Shoukeen in the first game. They will probably try Kumar Kartikeya, Ramandeep Singh, Shams Mulani, and Arjun Tendulkar until they get the right combination to play in the middle order.
Without Jaspreet Bumrah, MI’s bowling attack looks like a weak link. The return of Jofrah Archer might take some games to get the required outcome finally. With no other experienced pacer, MI will use the same Impact player strategy they used in the first game. Jason Behrendorff to replace Surya or Tilak from the playing eleven. But this strategy has restricted them to using just three foreign players in the first innings. It means destructive players like Dewald Brewis and Tristan Stubbs have to wait for their chances.
Important Upcoming Encounters for Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians lived up to the expectations by losing the first IPL game of the season. They haven’t won their first game since 2013. Here are some important upcoming fixtures for MI.
Against CSK (8th April)
Mumbai Indians will be playing against their archrivals at home on 8th April. MI have won three of their last 5 games against Chennai Super Kings. At Wankhede, they have 6 wins in 9 games against the visitors. CSK is struggling with its bowling unit. They have conceded more than 9 runs in both games in an over. If Mumbai takes out their openers early, they can beat CSK. But it won’t be that easy. MI needs to change their batting lineup.
Red Flag: Ruturaj Gaikwad has smashed two half-centuries in the last two games for CSK.
Against Delhi Capitals (11th April)
Mumbai Indians will have an easy outing against the struggling Delhi Capitals at Arun Jaitley Stadium. DC have lost both their games of this IPL. DC skipper David Warner have scored the runs, but his strike rate is the problem for DC. Warner seemed to be struggling with the pacers at an early stage when the wickets kept falling on the other end. So MI bowlers must take the wickets in the powerplay to push DC on the backfoot. If they manage to make this happen, DC’s middle order will be a cakewalk for MI.
Red Flag: Mitchell Marsh, Rilee Roussow, and Rovman Powell are yet to show their power hitting. Mumbai should bowl pacers against the first two and a leg spinner against the latter.
Against Kolkata Knight Riders (16th April)
This will probably be the easiest encounter for MI, as KKR is also struggling with injured and unavailable players. Except for Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and now Jason Roy, no other player from the KKR camp sounds threatening to any other team this year. But KKR has beaten MI in their last three games with a dominating effect. We predict MI will win this game with the middle order providing the required runs.
Red Flag: Andre Russell’s power-hitting ability against any kind of bowling unit.
Can MI Win IPL 2023?
Frankly, there is no chance that this MI team will win this IPL. Even the experts are not choosing MI as the potential winner of the IPL 2023. But they have the experience of winning the trophy five times. All they need to do is change the strategy of batting position and use of the impact players.
Using three international players and one impact player won’t be taking MI to qualify for the playoffs. It might sound harsh, but MI should try sending Dewald Brewis to open the innings with Ishan Kishan. Rohit Sharma should take the role in the middle order like MS Dhoni. He has done it past with Deccan Chargers. This will also reduce the workload seeing the ODI World Cup in close vicinity. If this plan doesn’t work out, they can return with Sharma and Kishan at the top. Brewis has been phenomenal with the bat in recent games. The second change should be sending Tilak Verma at number three and Tim David at number 5.
And most importantly, using Kumar Kartikeya or Shams Mulani over Hritik Shoukeen. Mulani has experienced bowling on Wankhede. He has had a great Ranji season. On the other hand, Kartikeya had impressed everyone with his bowling in the last season. If Mumbai Indians still want a left-arm pacer, they should now try Arjun Tendulkar for a few games. Well, one more thing. They should quickly sign someone as a replacement for Jhye Richardson.
Well, even after this, we don’t find MI as the title contender.
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