The five-time champions Mumbai Indians will kick off their campaign against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on 2nd April. MI had roped in players like Duan Jansen, Cameron Green, Shams Mulani, Piyush Chawla, Jhye Richardson, and Vishnu Vinod in IPL 2023 auction.
MI had finished the previous season as the wooden spooners as they could only manage four wins in the 14 league stage of the tournament. Thus, they will be looking to turn the tables in the forthcoming season.
Strengths: One of the biggest strengths of Mumbai Indians over the years has been their collective effort on the field. The Rohit Sharma-led team has a potent batting unit as they have batters like Suryakumar Yadav, Cameron Green, Ishan Kishan, and Tim David. They also have a potent fast bowling unit as they have bowlers like Jofra Archer, Jhye Richardson, and Jason Behrendorff.
Weaknesses: There is no doubt that MI missed the experience of Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard in the previous season. However, there is not enough firepower in their spin department. While they have signed veteran spinner Piyush Chawla, they still lack a quality modern-day spinner in their team. Furthermore, they will miss the services of their talisman Jasprit Bumrah, who is out of action due to a back injury.
MI PROBABLE PLAYING XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Cameron Green, Jofra Archer, Arshad Khan, Kumar Kartikeya, Hrithik Shokeen, Jhye Richardson/Jason Behrendorff.
MI Squad for IPL 2023:
Wicketkeepers: Ishan Kishan, Tristan Stubbs (SA), Vishnu Vinod.
Batters: Rohit Sharma, Tim David (AUS), Ramandeep Singh, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Dewald Brevis (SA).
All-rounders: Nehal Wadhera, Shams Mulani, Duan Jansen (SA), Cameron Green (AUS).
Bowlers: Jofra Archer (ENG), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshad Khan, Jason Behrendorff (AUS), Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Raghav Goyal, Piyush Chawla, Jhye Richardson (AUS).