IPL 2018: Desi Tadka of Mumbai Indians

'Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.' - Arnold Schwarzenegger

Indian Premier League, like a typical Bollywood movie, has glamour, scandals, conflict of interests, stars and some off field love stories and controversies. It's a mini Bollywood in a nutshell, and ruling this mini Bollywood is the wife of India’s richest man, Nita Ambani.

At first, MI was supposed to be named Mumbai Razors, but the God of cricket Sachin Tendulkar persuaded the management to change the name. Like the freshness and high dreams which the City of Mumbai provides, it's very own team Mumbai Indians foster it. From showcasing the class of some legendary players of world cricket to unearthing some exceptional talents, the MI paltan have done it all.

Like the Mumbaikars go bananas for a plate of Pav Bhaji, MI fans went bananas when they started the IPL journey with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga & Shaun Pollock, yet gave platforms to newbies like Manish Pandey, Saurabh Tiwari, Jasprit Bumrah and others. This works just like the Bollywood, isn’t it!?

A rocky start

MI’s start was not the smoothest of all, they didn’t win the IPL until the 2013 season. But once they won it, they became a force to reckon! From class overseas players to budding talents of the future, MI owned everything. And legends even said that their mentor’s squad is good enough to compete on the field. Who would like to face a squad of Mahela Jayawardene, Robin Singh, Shane Bond, Lasith Malinga and Sachin Tendulkar, well that is the influence of the Mumbai team.

Cementing the core

We fast forward the tape to 2018, during the fresh auction MI’s strategy was crystal clear, they wanted their core set of players intact and hence retained Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and flamboyant Hardik Pandya. The right to match cards were played to near perfection, when they played it on the big Pandya (Krunal) and Keiron Pollard. They missed out on the Punjabi flavour of Harbhajan Singh though.

The policy was more or less a success, but to keep the core intact they missed on some big name players which might come back to haunt them later during the season. Despite the minor snag, MI management were successful in binding a beauty of a team. They just lack few top-middle order batsmen. But hey! Not every Vada Pav is made to perfection, but it tastes as good.

One of Mumbai’s biggest strength this season is the pace department. With the ‘desi chutney’ of Jasprit Bumrah, ‘cutting chai’ of Mumbai - similar to off cutters by Mustafizur Rahman and the fire of Pat Cummins, MI paltans look set to make opposition shiver with fear. The spin department looks a bit weak in comparison to their pace attack, but the likes of Krunal Pandya, Akila Dhananjaya and the youngster Rahul Chahar are more than handy and if they bloom then it could be the year when MI grab the trophy consecutively.

Rohit Sharma is the ‘Taj Hotel’ of this Mumbai Indian batting order. JP Duminy and Pandya can come down and smash some sixes but the local lads Siddhesh and Suryakumar Yadav will have to take their game few levels up if MI wants to grab the title again. This side will also count on Saurabh Tiwary, the seasoned domestic star. Ishan Kishan and Evin Lewis will need to anchor the batting order as well.

Well, to the city which never sleeps, the desi Bambai, the defending champions of IPL are all set to rock India and take the 11th edition of the IPL by storm. So, one more time for MI Paltans – ‘Duniya Hila Denge Hum’

Mumbai Indians probable playing XI- Ishan Kishan (wk), Evin Lewis (o), Siddhesh Lad, Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, JP Duminy (o), Hardik Pandya, Keiron Pollard (o), Krunal Pandya, Pat Cummins (o), Jasprit Bumrah.