MI Preview IPL 2024

Mumbai Indians recovered from a dire 2022 to get within touching distance of the final in 2023. Can they go one better in IPL 2024?

With a very strong core of Indian players that is boosted by the return of Jasprit Bumrah from injury and Hardik Pandya who has been named captain on his homecoming, then MI surely have to be considered one of the favourites for the IPL 2024 title.

MI Review of 2023

Despite reaching the later stages of the tournament, the stats below show that MI didn't really excel in any single discipline or phase of the game in IPL 2023.

As a result, they were largely reliant on individual brilliance, particularly from their batsmen and particularly at home, to get them wins.

Suryakumar Yadav had an absolutely incredible tournament, passing 600 runs despite the fact that he generally batted outside the top 3 and scoring those runs at an eye watering strike rate of 181. He also received good support from the likes of Tilak Varma although the young left-hander's season was interrupted by injury and Nehal Wadhera who played 14 times in his debut season.

Cameron Green also had his moments including a century in his debut season in the IPL but that clearly wasn't quite enough to stop MI taking the opportunity to trade him to RCB for the returning Pandya.

The opening pair continues to be a bit of an issue for MI. Rohit Sharma has been underperforming for a while now. He did at least add 2 half centuries in IPL 2023 (having scored none in the previous campaign) and finished with a higher strike rate than he's managed in the last 4 campaigns.

Still, Rohit's relatively meagre strike rate of 130 in the powerplay coupled with his inability to bat deep into the innings did continue to put MI's middle order in position where they had to bat out of their skin to get competitive totals on the board!

Mumbai's middle order also needed to play well to compensate for the lack of senior bowlers that the side had available to them in IPL 2023.

With Bumrah missing the whole tournament and Jofra Archer only fit enough to play 6 games during which he looked like a man who has played virtually no cricket for 2 years, the onus fell largely on Jason Behrendorff to lead the attack and he performed admirably in taking 14 wickets in 12 appearances.

In fact, the only frontline bowler who appeared in all 16 of MI's matches in the IPL was veteran Piyush Chawla which was a surprise given that he'd made just 1 IPL appearance in the 2 seasons prior. That however didn't stop the wrist spinner from taking 22 wickets making him the second most prolific slow bowler in IPL 2023.

Later on in the season, Akash Madhwal burst onto the scence finishing the season with 14 wickets including an incredible 5 for 5 against LSG in the first eliminator, an IPL record at the MA Chidambaram.

Speaking of records at stadiums, MI were the only team to win more matches at home than they did away in IPL 2023.

IPL records at the Wankhede last 10 matches

As the stats above show, that was largely achieved by the fact that MI were capable of chasing pretty much any score that the opposition set them.

MI IPL 2024 auction

With the deal to sign Hardik Pandya completed ahead of the auction, MI were generally left looking to sign bowlers to replace the overseas quicks who Behrendorff aside, had all been released.

In that regard and given MI's fairly limited budget you'd say that they have recruited well with Gerald Coetzee, Nuwan Thushara and Dilshan Madushanka. All 3 offer something slightly different and they are joined by Romario Shepherd who was also an off-season acquisition, to give MI plenty of fast bowling options.

MI did put in a bid for Mitchell Starc but acquiring the Aussie would have cost them all their available funds and while the prospect of Bumrah and Starc bowling in tandem would have been awesome to see, MI have learned from last season that depth is a necessary consideration particularly with your fast bowling stocks.

MI squad strengths and weaknesses IPL 2024

Career T20 records v types of bowling and in phases of the game

The MI batting line-up certainly looks formidable on paper.

Freed from the captaincy, can this be the season that Rohit Sharma finally cuts lose? Given the spluttering form that the opening combination has shown over the last couple of years then MI will certainly being hoping for more and you can see from Rohit and Ishan's career strike rates in the powerplay that neither has historically gotten the side off to a flier in that part of the game.

For the most part, you'd expect Hardik Pandya to bat at number 3, a role that he played very well particularly in his first season at GT. However, it could well be that the MI middle order remains very fluid given the talent that they have available.

Tilak Varma for example could easily be brought in higher up the order and in fact when you look at his match-ups against all types of bowling then MI would do well to ensure the youngster is given as much time at the crease as possible. I say youngster but you have to remember that while still only 21-years of age, Tilak has played 20 times for India in white ball cricket and will be looking at IPL 2024 as the chance to cement his place in the T20 World Cup squad.

If he does go to the World Cup then it's highly likely he'll be playing in the middle order with his MI teammate Suryakumar Yadav. Sky is arguably pound for pound the best T20 batsmen in world cricket. He's batted in every role for MI over the years but more recently has been floating around the number 4/5 spots. Will that be where he bats again this season or might MI spring a surprise on us and push him higher?

The reality is that MI have the depth in their batting line-up to chop and change as the match situation unfolds. For example, you wouldn't want to leave the likes of Rohit, Ishan or Hardik together against certain spin match-ups as their stats above show. However, when you have the 2 Rolls Royce options of Tilak and Sky in your middle order plus Wadhera whose performances last year showed how effective he can be, particularly against slower bowling, then opposition sides should struggle to expose those weaknesses.

MI also look well set at the death not only if one of the 6 batsmen we've mentioned already gets in and set because as the stats above show, they've all got the power game to really up the ante late on, but also with Tim David sitting in at 6/7 as the finisher.

The big man has had 2 largely successful seasons at MI playing that very role and is more than capable of clearing any boundary and then some in those all important death overs.

Where MI have also strengthened for this season is that they'll likely have a player at number 8 who can swing the bat if needed. Romario Shepherd is certainly capable of striking a long ball in those last few overs and Gerald Coetzee is also no mug with the bat.

While you'd assume that the likes of Brevis and Nabi are there as back-up players, the fact that MI's top 6 are all home grown talent also gives them great flexibility in deciding which overseas players to bring in or there may be times they don't play 4 overseas players.

Career T20 bowling stats by phase of the game

The fitness of Bumrah is absolutely key for MI. If they can have him available for the entirety of IPL 2024 then their chances of winning it improve dramatically. If Sky is the best T20 batsman in world cricket then Bumrah is the best bowler full stop.

However, as we saw in the 2022 season he will need support and this time it looks likely that he'll get it! The problem that MI have had in previous years is when to bowl Bumrah's 4 overs because he's brilliant across all phases of the game. Ideally, you'd want to go for 2 overs upfront because you know he'll put pressure on the opposition top order in a key phase of the game and then have 2 up your sleeve for late in the innings where his economy over a very long career is an incredible 8 an over.

I would expect that first choice alongside Bumrah will be Thushara who is similarly effective at both ends of the innings. Another Sri Lankan quick in the mould of his now mentor at MI Lasith Malinga, Thushara's impact in the powerplay comes as a result of him also being able to bowl away swing with the new ball (much like Malinga used to) while still being able to deliver those toe crushing in-swinging yorkers at the death.

The fact that Thushara went off to play for MI Cape Town under the watchful eye of Malinga feels like he is being primed for a big part in this Mumbai Indians attack in IPL 2024. If he can continue the form he showed in that tournament here in the IPL then watch out - those 2 deliveries to the right handers are close to unplayable!

MI could then opt to play a left-armer in the form of Madushanka or Behrendorff. Both are ideally suited to bowling in the powerplay but Behrendorff showed last season that he has added enough variety to be effective in later phases of the game too although if Bumrah and Thushara are in the side he's likely to be able to focus on swinging the new ball which has always been a strength.

Alternatively Gerald Cotzee is another bowler capable of being effective in multiple phases of the game. However, having missed all of the recent SA20 through injury he may need to prove his fitness before getting his chance. That then leaves Madwhal and Romario Shepherd both of whom are seen as more effective options in the 2nd half of the innings if selected.

Spin always seems to be something of an after thought when selecting an MI squad but Mumbai do have some very experienced operators who can do a job when required. Chawla who was so successful last season remains on the books, although his form in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy since then was poor. MI also brought in Shreyas Gopal who had a stint with the franchise back in 2014. He was Kerala's leading wicket taker in the same tournament with 12 victims.

At the time of writing, Kartikeya is attempting to lead Madhya Pradesh to the Ranji Trophy final and perhaps this can be the season that he brings his domestic form into franchise cricket.

The final big question as to the balance of this MI side and attack, is the ability of Hardik to bowl. It would appear that the prospects for that happening are looking positive for now with Hardik at least bowling in the nets but you'd imagine that MI will look to manage his workload. Still, having him as a 5th/6th bowling option only serves to strengthen this already excellent MI side.

MI IPL 2024 Predictions

For me, Mumbai Indians are the favourites to win a 6th IPL title. Their batting line-up looks to have most bases covered and if the opening pair can hit the form we all know they are capable of then coupled with the strenght of their middle and lower order, you'd say they have the best batting unit in the competition.

With the ball, things are looking so much better than at the same time last year. Their fast bowling stocks look particularly strong with MI possessing multiple bowlers who are effective throughout the innings.

Spin has never been a strong point for MI and while that might not be as much of an issue at home, there will be a few venues that they travel to through the tournament that could expose that weakness.

It will of course be interesting to see how the side adapts to a new captain. While Pandya is certainly not new to the MI set-up, Rohit has been in charge for such a long time that it may require some adaptation. At the same time, Hardik looked like the ideal T20 leader while at GT and taking some of the workload away from Rohit whose responsibilities obviously extend beyond the IPL and into the national team is perhaps a change that is long overdue and could reap significant benefits.

Predicted finish: 1st

All stats used in this blog are from my own database which is freely accessible at T20 head to head. Images are my own with the exception of player profiles and background images which are used under a creative commons license or otherwise royalty free