Defending champions Mumbai Indians, one of the strongest outfits in the competition, will enter IPL 2021 aiming for a hat-trick of titles – here’s the predicted MI first-choice playing XI for the tournament.
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The most successful side in IPL, MI have reached the final six times and won the title on five of those occasions, the last of which came in their win over Delhi Capitals in IPL 2020. At the centre of their success is a strong core unit, led by Rohit Sharma, with the Pandya brothers, Kieron Pollard and Jasprit Bumrah revolving around him.
However, it’s the new set, including youngsters like Ishan Kishan and Rahul Chahar, that is making an impact as well. Suryakumar Yadav and Quinton de Kock’s vital contributions make it a well-rounded unit.
Major changes we could see
Mumbai Indians’ USP has been their tendency to not tweak what’s working, and IPL 2021 might also see the trend being extended. There’s little to change for MI in the playing XI really, but the role of the new acquisitions will be interesting to see – from Piyush Chawla, an IPL veteran with ample experience, to exciting youngsters such as Marco Jansen and Arjun Tendulkar, there’s a range of options to choose from.
The role of established cricketers like Chris Lynn and James Neesham will also be in focus, but it might not be easy for them to break into the first XI regularly.
You can read Mumbai Indians preview for IPL 2021 here.
MI squad for IPL 2021
Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Anmolpreet Singh, Quinton de Kock, Aditya Tare, Krunal Pandya, Jayant Yadav, Trent Boult, Chris Lynn, Dhawal Kulkarni, Rahul Chahar, Anukul Roy, Saurabh Tiwary, Mohsin Khan
MI likely first-choice playing XI
Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock* (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
*Quinton de Kock is likely to be unavailable for the first game.
