Mumbai Indians (MI), the most successful team in Indian Premier League (IPL), will be looking forward to defending their Championship Title this year. The Mukesh Ambani-owned franchise has won three IPL titles (2013, 2015 & 2017) in the past years. The Mumbai franchise has also won the coveted Champions League trophy twice in the year 2011 & 2013. With Sachin Tendulkar at the helm of the cash-rich franchise once, Mumbai Indians enjoys a huge popularity in all the parts of India.

Mumbai Indians retained its skipper Rohit Sharma, fast-bowling sensation Jasprit Bumrah, and the dynamic all-rounder Hardik Pandya before going into the auctions. It came as a shocker when the franchise didn’t retain Harbhajan Singh, Kieron Pollard, and Lasith Malinga – the franchise’s star players over the years. It will be for the first time in 11 years of IPL that its iconic bowler, Malinga, will not be playing for the Mumbai side.

Known as the big-spenders in the IPL auctions, Mumbai Indians took a cautious approach in this auction. Krunal Pandya, who was the find of their campaigns in previous two years, became the highest-paid uncapped player in the IPL when he was bought by MI for Rs. 8.8 Cr.

A lot of Mumbai’s batting depends on how Rohit Sharma performs. However, the team looks balanced and will be itching to lay their hands on their fourth title. Both JP Duminy and Saurabh Tiwary returned to the side in order to bolster the middle-order – something which has been Mumbai Indians’ problem over the years. Evin Lewis was a surprise pick for the franchise. The explosive West Indian opener is known for hitting long sixes just as his idol – Chris Gayle.

Mumbai Indian’s bowling stock would be their Achilles Heel this year as they might struggle without strong bowling options. However, both Pat Cummins and Mustafizur ‘Fizz’ Rahman will look to live up to their reputations and they will have big boots of Lasith Malinga and Mitchell Johnson to fill.

Mumbai Indians play their home matches at the iconic Wankhede Stadium. The Mumbai franchise has an intense rivalry with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Both (MI & CSK) the teams have locked horns in many matches in crunch situations. Their matches have often seen tense finishes and that’s what adds spice to the IPL.

MUMBAI INDIANS FULL SQUAD FOR IPL 2018 [25 players]

Rohit Sharma (Captain), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Pat Cummins, Evin Lewis, Suryakumar Yadav, Ben Cutting, Mustafizur Rahman, Rahul Chahar, Pradeep Sangwan, Jason Behrendorff, Jean-Paul Duminy, Saurabh Tiwary, Tajinder Dhillon, Akila Dhananjaya, Nidheesh M D Dinesan, Aditya Tare, Siddhesh Dinesh Lad, Mayank Markande, Sharad Lumba, Anukul Roy, and Mohsin Khan.

Support Staff:

Head Coach: Mahela Jayawardene

Batting Coach: Robin Singh

Bowling Coach: Shane Bond

With all the hullabaloo around the 2018 IPL Auction done away with, it will be now on the players to perform. The three-time IPL winners have a huge reputation to take care going into the 11th Indian Premier League. The 11th edition of IPL begins on April 7 and the tournament will stretch till May 31st.

It will be exciting to see how the Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians fare in the tournament without their leading wicket-taking bowler Malinga. Stay tuned for many such updates on VIVO Indian Premier League 2018.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 31, 2018 06:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).