Mumbai Indians extended their record as the most successful team in the Indian Premier League by winning their fifth title in Dubai on Tuesday. Against Delhi Capitals in the final, Rohit Sharma and Co put in a ruthless performance to bag a five-wicket win.
Heading into this year’s IPL in the United Arab Emirates, Mumbai Indians were considered by most as favourites to win the trophy. They lived up to their billing by being consistent right through the tournament, finishing the league stage with the most number of points, before raising their game yet again in the playoffs.
Mumbai Indians won their first title back in 2013. Since then, they emerged victorious in 2015, 2017, 2019 and now in 2020. The second-most successful team in IPL history is Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings, with three titles to their name.
Rohit, who took over MI’s captaincy from Australian great Ricky Ponting in the middle of the 2013 season, has been the skipper of the men in blue and gold right through this glorious eight-year period.
Here’s taking a look at each of the five IPL finals won by Mumbai Indians:
IPL title No 1 – 2013
Playing CSK at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to bat first. Mohit Sharma (5/26), Chris Morris and Albie Morkel did the job with the new ball as MI slumped to 16/3 and then 52/4. Ambati Rayudu made a crucial 37 but it was an unbeaten 60 off 32 by Kieron Pollard that helped Mumbai get to 148/9.
Despite defending a well below-par total, MI never missed a beat with the ball as Lasith Malinga and Co destroyed Chennai’s top order. Captain Dhoni remained not-out on 63 off 45 but his team could only manage 125/9 in their 20 overs. Pollard was declared the player of the match.
Watch the highlights of the IPL 2013 final here:
IPL title No 2 – 2015
Once again, Mumbai Indians faced Chennai Super Kings at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. This time Dhoni won the toss and asked MI to bat first but his decision backfired. Lendl Simmons scored 68 off 45 at the top of the order but it was skipper Rohit’s 26-ball 50 that powered his team to an imposing 202/5.
Opener Dwayne Smith scored 57 off 48 and added 66 runs for the second wicket with Suresh Raina but that was it for the CSK batting. They simply couldn’t string together partnerships and ended up with just 161/8 in their 20 overs. Rohit was declared the player of the match.
Watch the highlights of the IPL 2015 final here:
IPL title No 3 – 2017
This time Mumbai Indians were up against Rising Pune Supergiant at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Rohit won the toss and elected to bat first but his decision seemed far from the right one. The RPS bowlers put in a brilliant performance and MI could manage just a paltry 129/8, thanks largely to Krunal Pandya’s 47 off 38 batting at No 5.
But even as everyone expected a straightforward chase, Pune ended up delivering a shocker with the bat. They were in a solid position in the 12th over, with 70 runs on the board and Ajinkya Rahane and captain Steve Smith well set. But from there on, they choked dramatically to finish with 128/6 in 20 overs. MI won the last-over thriller by one run and Krunal bagged the played of the match award.
Watch the highlights of the IPL 2017 final here:
IPL title No 4 – 2019
It was a clash between the heavyweights as three-time champions MI squared-up against three-time champions CSK. And the match didn’t disappoint. Once again Rohit opted to bat first and once again his team came up well short. Pollard top-scored with 41* off 25 as MI managed just 149/8 on a batting-friendly pitch.
However, CSK too crumbled with the bat. Shane Watson hit a valiant 80 off 59 with a bloodied knee but the rest of the batters failed to make a mark. The match went down to the last ball and CSK needed just two to win, but Malinga trapped Shardul Thakur in front to hand MI another one-run victory in an IPL final. Jasprit Bumrah, for his sensational spell of 2/14, won the player of the match award.
Watch the highlights of the IPL 2019 final here:
IPL title No 5 – 2020
Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals finished one and two in the league stage and it was fitting that they met in the final. But the defending champions were the firm favourties as they had beaten Delhi thrice already in the season. This time MI were asked to bowl first and a double strike in the powerplay by Trent Boult put them well ahead. Delhi fought back with a fine partnership for the fourth wicket by skipper Shreyas Iyer (65* off 50) and Rishabh Pant (56 off 38) but they finished with a below-par total of 156/7.
Mumbai Indians then dominated the powerplay with the bat as well as Rohit and Quinton de Kock came out all guns blazing. The skipper went on to score 68 off 51 before Ishan Kishan slammed an unbeaten 33 off 19 as MI cruised to victory in 18.4 overs. Boult was declared the player of the match for his 3/30.
Watch the highlights of the IPL 2020 final here:
