The Present Is Dim But The Future Is Bright For Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians have a squad built for the future.
In 4.1 overs of a run-chase of 199 runs, Mumbai Indians had lost two key players - captain Rohit Sharma, who just completed his 10,000 runs in T20 cricket, and Ishan Kishan, who was bought back by the franchise for a record 15.25 crore INR. Things were again looking pretty dim from the five-time IPL champions' perspective when two young guns, who have not even crossed 20 of age yet, joined hands in the middle.
Dewald Brevis (18-year-old) and Tilak Verma (19-year-old) had to take Mumbai out of trouble with the score reading 32/2. The duo not only had to rebuild the inning but keep MI interested in the run chase.
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What followed was Brevis smacking 29 runs in one over and the two young guns with a combined age of 37 years smacking 84 runs in the next 41 balls. Brevis hit 49 in 25 balls while Tilak made 36 in 20.
In the 2022 Mega Auction, Mumbai Indians, along with the rest of the teams, had a total revamp of the squad. MI - the most successful team in the IPL with five titles to its name, had to lose most of its players in the Auction.
While the rest of the teams brought up a squad to win the IPL 2022, MI got players to win them the title for the next five years, and why not? They already have titles to show while the rest of the teams are still struggling to find even one. They surely could afford to have an average season.
During the Auction, Mumbai bought 13 uncapped players in the squad for 16.85 crores. The idea was to build a squad for the long term even if they take a hit in the current season.
With the likes of Dewald Brevis and Tilak Verma taking responsibility in the middle order after only a few games into the season, it suggests that MI have got their uncapped players right on the money.
Ishan Kishan, Brevis, Tilak, and Tim David haven't crossed 27 years of age yet. Despite current performances, these four have a lot of potential to be a dangerous-looking batting lineup, add to that - Suryakumar Yadav.
What MI hopes was to get performances from the big players like Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard and this lineup could have been unstoppable. Even if the performances aren't there, the youngsters are getting the feel of what they will be doing for at least the next three seasons and what the team will expect from them in the future.
MI's bowling has been disappointing though. There's no doubt that quality has gone down for the defending champions in the bowling department and the opposition is easily playing down Jasprit Bumrah while attacking the rest.
They hoped for Tymal Mills to have a good season with Bumrah but so far he hasn't. The third pacer quality was always going to hurt them and it has. While Mumbai has got Jofra Archer from the next season, the bowling quality has surely had a hit.
Like batting, have MI also sorted their bowling for the future is still a thing to look at. But given how Mumbai have always been a thinking franchise, they must have thought this through.
Also Read: IPL 2022 - Scorecard
It may seem that Mumbai Indians are down and out but the reality is, the future of the franchise is a lot brighter than the present. Till then, imagine a lineup with Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Verma, Tim David, Jasprit Bumrah, and Jofra Archer as core players - it'll be a reality in the next two years - all in their prime.
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