IPL 2022, Mumbai Indians squad, fixtures and more: A season of transition for Rohit Sharma & Co?

Are you a fan of random patterns? If so, you will have noticed before the 2020 Indian Premier League season that Mumbai Indians won the title in odd-numbered years. Of course, even they noticed it and that is why there was even an entire promo with that as the theme. Indeed, in 2020, Mumbai Indians broke that run and won an elusive back-to-back IPL title to break the odd-even streak. If you are a MI fan, you’d be hoping this season doesn’t mark the beginning of a new pattern perhaps, where two seasons of title-winning efforts are followed by two outside the top four.

Simply, a franchise like MI have never had two below par seasons in a row in their last decade. A less-than-ideal result in a season invariably meant bouncing back in the next. But after a fifth-placed finish in 2021, the team had to reset. Everyone had to. And now we are possibly looking at a two-seasons-in-a-row transition for the tournament’s most successful side.

That, at least, was the largely prevalent feeling at the end of their auction where they finished with Ishan Kishan being added to the four heavyweights who were retained already. In Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Ishan, the core is good to go. But elsewhere, there is a sense of wait-and-watch as MI perhaps get ready for the long haul.

History at the tournament

The most successful side in the history of IPL, Mumbai will have a chance to put some more gap between themselves and Chennai Super Kings should they return to winning ways this season.

Squad

Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brevis, Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Sanjay Yadav, M Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Jasprit Bumrah, Tymal Mills, Daniel Sams, Riley Meredith, Mayank Markande, N Tilak Varma, Basil Thampi, Anmolpreet Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Aryan Juyal, Fabian Allen, Rahul Buddhi, Hrithik Shokeen, Mohd. Arshad Khan, Arjun Tendulkar.

Player availability: Having known that Jofra Archer was unlikely to be ready for IPL 2022, MI had taken a long term punt on him. He will be missing from the squad they built during the auction but the five-time champs have otherwise a full quota to pick from apart from Suryakumar Yadav, who is nursing an injury picked up during international duty.

Read more about how MI’s squad post auction shaped up here:

IPL Auction, Mumbai Indians review: Possible best XI, strengths and weaknesses

Most Valuable Player

Jasprit Bumrah will once again be Rohit’s go-to bowler under pressure in the tournament. With a new support cast around him, the pressure on Bumrah to hit the ground running right away will be immense but he has shown time and again in the past that he thrives in situations where he is asked to deliver under the spotlight. In a squad of superstars, Bumrah will be Rohit’s trump card.

Uncapped Indian to watch out for

Tilak Varma, part of the Under 19 World Cup squad in 2020, is a Hyderabad batter who could be in the mix right away. “Tilak is a massive talent and fortunately, we got him in the auction. He has a lot of potential, as does Dewald Brevis - he is a committed young man and is willing to learn, which is good to see. Like any other youngster, they have a process to go through, they have to learn from the experienced players. We will try to nurture all the young guys in the team,” coach Mahela Jayawardene had said in the pre-season press meet.

There will also be plenty of eyes on how ‘Baby AB’ Brevis fares.

Quotes corner

“The bowlers are new to the team but not new to the game - guys like Unadkat and Mills - they have played for years so our critical role will be to make them understand what they need to do for us. We are working to give them a role clarity, and it is a challenge you face when building a new team,” said Rohit Sharma.

“Our core players - Rohit, Polly, Surya, Ishan and Boom - have managed their responsibilities well and it is upto them to create a comfortable environment. They will do most of the work to get the new guys to that level, making them calmer and more comfortable on and off the field. That is what we strive to do,” said Jayawardene.

Fixtures

Mumbai will start and finish their league stage with matches against Delhi.

Teams to play twice: KKR, RR, DC, LSG, CSK

Teams to play once: SRH, RCB, PBKS, GT