Mumbai Indians:A Brief History Till Now
Introduction
The Mumbai Indians are a cricket franchise in the Indian Premier League based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Reliance Industries, India’s largest conglomerate, owns the team through its 100% subsidiary IndiaWin Sports, which was founded in 2008. Since its inception, the squad has played its home games in Mumbai’s 33,108-seat Wankhede Stadium.
In 2017, the Mumbai Indians became the first IPL franchise to surpass the $100 million mark in brand value. For the fourth year in a row, the Mumbai Indians’ brand value is projected to be about 809 crore (approximately $115 million), the highest among all IPL franchises. Mumbai Indians won the 2011 Champions League Twenty20, defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final by 31 runs. The club achieved the double by winning its maiden IPL title in 2013, defeating Chennai Super Kings in the final by 23 runs, and then defeating the Rajasthan Royals by 33 runs later that year to capture its second Champions League Twenty20 trophy. They won their second IPL title on May 24, 2015, defeating the Chennai Super Kings in the final by 41 runs, becoming the third team to win more than one IPL trophy.
On May 21, 2017, they won their third IPL title by defeating the Rising Pune Supergiant by one run in a thrilling final, becoming the first team to win three IPL titles. During the tournament, they won their 100th T20, making them the first team to do so. In 2019, they repeated the feat, winning a record-breaking fourth IPL title by defeating CSK by one run in the IPL Final on 12 May 2019. They became the first team to win the IPL title for the fifth time when they defeated Delhi Capitals by 5 wickets in the IPL Final on 10 November 2020. They became the first team to win 100 T20s while competing in the tournament. In 2019, they replicated the feat, winning a record-breaking fourth IPL trophy by defeating CSK by one run in the IPL Final on May 12, 2019. They became the first side to win the IPL trophy for the fifth time when they defeated Delhi Capitals by 5 wickets in the IPL Final on November 10, 2020.
Rohit Sharma is the current captain of the Mumbai Indians. Before the 2017 season, Mahela Jayawardene was named head coach of the Mumbai Indians. Sharma is the team’s leading run scorer, while Lasith Malinga is the team’s leading wicket taker.
Franchise History
In September 2007, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the formation of the Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 competition set to begin in 2008.
The BCCI unveiled the owners of eight city-based franchises in January 2008. The Mumbai franchise was sold for $111.9 million to Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), making it the most expensive team to be sold in the league. Mukesh Ambani’s RIL acquired the franchise rights for a ten-year period.
Team History
Initial Struggle Seasons: 2008- 2009
The Indian Premier League designated four players as icon players for their respective city franchises, making them ineligible to play for any team other than their hometown team. Mumbai’s icon player has been named Sachin Tendulkar. In addition, the icon player was entitled to 15% more pay than the next-highest paid player on their team. The Mumbai franchise purchased several star international cricketers during the first player auctions for the inaugural IPL season in February 2008, including Sanath Jayasuriya, Harbhajan Singh, Shaun Pollock, Lasith Malinga, and Robin Uthappa. Sachin Tendulkar was named captain of the team, and former India cricketer Lalchand Rajput was named head coach.
Tendulkar was injured before the start of the 2008 season, so Harbhajan Singh took over as captain in the early stages of the season. The team had a rough start to the season, losing their first four games by large margins. On 20 April 2008, they were defeated by the Royal Challengers Bangalore by five wickets at the Wankhede Stadium. Harbhajan Singh, their stand-in captain, was suspended from the tournament for allegedly slapping Sreesanth during Mumbai’s league match against Kings XI Punjab. After Harbhajan was suspended, Shaun Pollock took over as captain until Tendulkar returned on May 24. Mumbai won six of their next six games under Pollock’s captaincy, leaving them needing to win two more of the remaining four games to qualify for the semi-finals. Before winning their final league match, Mumbai suffered three last-over defeats in the next three games, including two off the last ball. They finished fifth in the points table with 7 wins and 7 losses, one point short of a semi-final spot.
Because the 2009 season coincided with the multi-phase 2009 Indian general elections, the Government of India refused to commit Indian paramilitary forces to provide security for the IPL. Before the season began, the Mumbai Indians traded Robin Uthappa to Royal Challengers Bangalore for Zaheer Khan, and the Delhi Daredevils traded Ashish Nehra for Shikhar Dhawan. Shaun Pollock left after the first season to become the team’s head coach. Lasith Malinga returned to the team after missing the previous season due to injury. Mumbai purchased South African batsman JP Duminy at the player auction to bolster their batting department. Mumbai struggled to put up consistent performances after winning their first match against the Chennai Super Kings. They relied heavily on Duminy and Tendulkar’s batting and Malinga’s bowling, with only a few other players contributing. Mumbai finished seventh in the league table with only five wins from 14 games.
Rise as a Strong Team: 2010-2012
Following a secret tiebreaker, the Mumbai Indians purchased Trinidadian all-rounder Kieron Pollard for $750,000 at the 2010 players auction. Following the auction, they signed ten uncapped Indian players, seven of whom were former ICL players. Former India cricketer Robin Singh was named head coach of the team, with Pollock serving as bowling coach. Because the Wankhede Stadium was undergoing renovations for the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, Mumbai had to relocate to Brabourne Stadium for the season. Mumbai topped the points table after winning seven of their first eight games. Tendulkar, Malinga, Harbhajan, Ambati Rayudu, and Saurabh Tiwary were instrumental in their success. They won three of the final six league games to finish first in the points table with 20 points from 14 games. Pollard’s all-round efforts (33* from 13 balls, and 3/17) helped them defeat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 35 runs in the semi-final. They were defeated by the Chennai Super Kings in the final by 22 runs. The Mumbai team management was chastised for “strategic errors” during the final, such as putting Abhishek Nayar and Harbhajan at batting positions 3 and 4, respectively, while putting Duminy and Pollard at 7 and 8. Sachin Tendulkar of Mumbai won the Orange Cap for scoring the most runs in the season, with 618 runs at an average of 47.53 and a strike rate of 132.6. Mumbai qualified for the 2010 Champions League Twenty20, but were knocked out in the group stage after two wins and two losses in four games.
With the addition of two new teams to the IPL in 2011, the IPL Governing Council declared that each franchise could retain up to four players from their 2010 squad, with the remaining international players being auctioned off. Tendulkar, Harbhajan, Pollard, and Malinga were retained by the Mumbai Indians for $4.5 million. This retention gave the franchise the ability to spend $4.5 million at the auction, where they paid $2 million for Indian batsman Rohit Sharma, $850,000 for former Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds, and $700,000 for pacer Munaf Patel. Mumbai won eight of their first ten league games before slumping to three consecutive defeats and a last-ball victory in their final league match. With 18 points from 14 games, they finished third on the points table and qualified for the Eliminator. The Eliminator was held at the Wankhede Stadium, where Mumbai took on the Kolkata Knight Riders. Mumbai won the toss and chose to bowl first, limiting Kolkata to 147 in 20 overs and chasing down the target for the loss of six wickets with four balls to spare. Munaf Patel was named Man of the Match for his 3/27 bowling figures. Mumbai qualified for the Qualifying final against Royal Challengers Bangalore, with the winner facing the Super Kings in the final. Mumbai skipper Tendulkar won the toss yet again and chose to bat, setting Mumbai a target of 186. Mumbai lost wickets at regular intervals from the start of their innings and could only manage 142/8, falling 43 runs short. Mumbai Indians pacers Lasith Malinga and Munaf Patel led the league in wicket-taking with 28 and 22 wickets, respectively.
Mumbai qualified for the 2011 Champions League Twenty20 tournament, which was held in India. Tendulkar, Sharma, and Patel were among the six first-choice Indian players in the Mumbai squad who were eliminated from the competition before it even began, and two more Indian players were also eliminated based on medical reports.This left their 14-man squad with only six Indian players, despite the tournament’s requirement of four overseas players and seven local players in the playing eleven. The Mumbai Indians were granted an exception, allowing them to field five overseas players during the tournament. In Tendulkar’s absence, Harbhajan Singh was named stand-in captain.
Mumbai was assigned to Group A, which included the Chennai Super Kings, New South Wales Blues, Cape Cobras, and Trinidad and Tobago. Mumbai finished the group stage with two wins, one defeat, and one no result, putting them in second place on the group points table with five points. They advanced to the semi-finals, and Mumbai batsman Suryakumar Yadav returned to the squad following his injury recovery. This resulted in the Champions League withdrawing the concession granted to the Mumbai Indians to field five overseas players. In the semi-finals, Mumbai faced Somerset County Cricket Club in Chennai. Mumbai batted first and reached 160/5 in 20 overs. Somerset’s chase was thwarted by Malinga, who took four wickets for 20 runs (all bowled) to help Mumbai restrict Somerset to 150 and win by 10 runs. The final was also held in Chennai, with Mumbai taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore. Mumbai batted first and scored 139 runs in 20 overs. Bangalore started the run-chase strongly, putting on 38 for the first wicket before Malinga broke the partnership. Harbhajan then took key wickets of Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli, sparking a batting collapse that resulted in Bangalore being bowled out for 108, giving Mumbai a 31-run victory and their first-ever title. Harbhajan was named player of the match, while Malinga was named man of the tournament. Andrew Symonds announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in early 2012.
The Mumbai Indians acquired Dinesh Karthik from Kings XI Punjab and Pragyan Ojha from the Deccan Chargers for undisclosed sums prior to the start of the 2012 season. The franchise purchased five players at the auction, including R. Mitchell Johnson, P. Singh, Thisara Perera (both for $600,000), and P. Singh. Tendulkar resigned as captain hours before the season’s first game, and Harbhajan Singh was named captain in his place. Mumbai had four wins and four losses in the first half of the league stage, including three losses at home.
Mumbai fared better in the league stage’s second half, winning six of their eight games. With 20 points from 16 matches, they finished third on the points table and qualified for the Eliminator against the fourth-placed Chennai Super Kings in Bangalore. Mumbai won the toss and chose to bat first. After losing two wickets in the first two overs, Chennai managed to post 187/5 in 20 overs, thanks in large part to their captain MS Dhoni’s unbeaten 20-ball 51. Mumbai’s chase had started well, with the score at 47/0 in the fifth over, before they began losing wickets at regular intervals, eventually finishing at 149/9 and losing the match by 38 runs. Along with the three IPL teams that finished first that season, they earned direct qualification to the 2012 Champions League Twenty20 in South Africa. Mumbai finished the tournament winless, with three defeats and one no result.
The IPL and CLT20 Double: 2013
Anil Kumble was appointed chief mentor for the 2013 IPL after leaving a similar position with Royal Challengers Bangalore. Ricky Ponting was eventually dropped from the playing eleven due to a slump in his batting form, and Rohit Sharma took over as captain. The team won the IPL 2013 with the help of experienced players such as Anil Kumble, Jonty Rhodes, and Sachin Tendulkar.
In 2013, the Mumbai Indians began by losing to the Royal Challengers Bangalore due to the efforts of Chris Gayle and pace bowler Vinay Kumar, but they were able to make a comeback in that match thanks to Dinesh Karthik, and Mumbai lost by one run. The openers were out in the second match against the Chennai Super Kings, but thanks to the efforts of Dinesh Karthik and Kieron Pollard, Mumbai had put a defendable score on the board. The Mumbai Indians bowlers got off to a good start by dismissing Murali Vijay, and the match went down to the wire, with the Super Kings needing 16 off the last over and MS Dhoni on strike and Munaf Patel to bowl; Patel dismissed Dhoni on the first ball, and Mumbai won comfortably by 9 runs. Ricky Ponting stepped down as captain and retired from all forms of cricket after Mumbai was bundled out for 92 in the next match against the Rajasthan Royals, giving the Rajasthan Royals an 83-run victory. With Rohit Sharma in excellent batting form, he was named captain. The Mumbai Indians improved significantly under his captaincy and won their first IPL title.
In the Champions League Twenty20, they extended their winning streak. However, they had a slow start in the Champions League as well, forcing them to win their final match of the league stage by a margin against the Perth Scorchers, which they did thanks to the combined efforts of Nathan Coulter-Nile, Dwayne Smith, and skipper Rohit Sharma. Glenn Maxwell won the tournament with a 14-ball 37. Mumbai scored 202/6 and won the match by 33 runs.
2014-2018
In 2014, Mumbai Indians did not start well, losing five of their matches in the UAE leg by large margins to Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Chennai Super Kings, and Delhi Daredevils, but did well in their fifth match against Sunrisers Hyderabad, but lost the matches against respective opponents.
They made a comeback in the Indian leg, defeating Kings XI Punjab, who were at the top of the table at the time. They were inconsistent with their performance after that. They defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore but lost to Chennai Super Kings. They won against the Sunrisers Hyderabad before losing to the Kolkata Knight Riders. However, after losing to the Kolkata Knight Riders, they went on to win against Kings XI Punjab and the Delhi Daredevils. Lendl Simmons scored a century in the match against Kings XI Punjab, which helped them win comfortably by seven wickets.
They were fifth in the table with 12 points with one game remaining. They needed to win by a large margin in the final league-stage match of the season against Rajasthan Royals, who were fourth in the league table with 14 points, to leapfrog the opponent and claim the play-offs spot as well.
The Rajasthan Royals set a target of 190 runs, but Mumbai Indians needed to reach the target in 14.3 overs to improve their net run rate and claim fourth place in the table, but they only managed a tie in 14.3 overs. So the Mumbai Indians needed a boundary off the next ball to knock the Rajasthan Royals off the top spot, and Aditya Tare delivered with a six off a full toss bowled by James Faulkner. They reached the IPL play-offs as a result of that six, but lost to the Chennai Super Kings in the eliminator, effectively ending their IPL 2014 campaign.
The Mumbai Indians qualified for the CLT20 2014 qualifier round. Due to the injury to their captain, Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard was named captain.
Mumbai Indians purchased Tim Southee, Nathu Singh, Jos Buttler, Jitesh Sharma, KP Kamath, Krunal Pandya, and Deepak Punia in the Vivo IPL 2016 Auction. They finished the season in fifth place in the points standings.
The Mumbai Indians finished first in the points table in 2017, winning 10 of 14 games. They went on to win the trophy after a nail-biting finish against Rising Pune Supergiant. This was their third IPL title, making them the most successful team in IPL history.
The Mumbai Indians finished fifth in the IPL 2018 after winning six and losing eight games.
2019- Present
In 2019, the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings met in the final of the Vivo IPL 2019, which Mumbai won by one run to become champions for the fourth time in a row. The IPL 2019 final was a nail-biter, with Chennai Super Kings needing two runs off the final delivery, when Mumbai Indians bowler Lasith Malinga took a wicket and won the match for Mumbai Indians. Mumbai Indians defeated Chennai Super Kings by one run to win the IPL for the fourth time in a row. Mumbai Indians became the only team to win four IPL titles and the most successful team in IPL history.
Hardik Pandya scored 91 runs off 34 balls against the Kolkata Knight Riders and had the fastest 50 off 17 balls in that game.
In his IPL debut against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Alzarri Joseph recorded the best bowling figures in IPL history – 6/12.
Mumbai Indians added six new players to their roster in the IPL auction 2020: Chris Lynn ($20 million), Nathan Coulter-Nile ($80 million), Saurabh Tiwary ($5 million), Mohsin Khan ($2 million), Digvijay Deshmukh ($2 million), and Balwant Rai Singh ($2 million).
Due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in India, the matches were moved to the UAE in 2020. Despite having a strong team, the Mumbai Indians were underappreciated due to their records in the UAE and a superstition of winning titles in odd years. However, the Mumbai Indians defied all expectations by becoming the season’s most successful team and winning their fifth title.
The Mumbai Indians released Mitchell McClenaghan, Sherfane Rutherford, Digvijay Deshmukh, Prince Balwant Rai Singh, James Pattinson, and Nathan Coulter-Nile prior to the 2021 Auction.
The Mumbai Indians re-signed Nathan Coulter-Nile (50 million), Adam Milne (32 million), Piyush Chawla (24 million), Marco Jansen (2 million), James Neesham (5 million), Arjun Tendulkar (2 million), and Yudhvir Singh Charak (2 million) in the 2021 Auction.
Mumbai Indians struggled in the early matches on the slow pitch of Chennai, one of the neutral venues for IPL 2021. They dropped three of their opening five contests. The failure of the lower middle order was the primary reason. Mumbai Indians won their next two games, with the middle order showing signs of improvement and making critical contributions to the victory. They eventually finished the season ranked fifth.
Two new teams were introduced in 2022.
The team retained four players ahead of the 2022 IPL mega auctions: Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumra, Kieron Pollard, and Surya Kumar Yadav. They let go of Hardik Pandya, who had been a key player for them for a long time. They backed Ishan Kishan for a hefty sum of 15.25 in the mega auctions they purchased, which is the second highest bid for an Indian player to date.
They started the season on a bad note, losing their first eight matches, the most in tournament history. They finished the tournament with four wins out of fourteen matches, making the 15th season their worst by finishing last in the points table.
Conclusion
The team’s journey was documented in the 2019 Netflix documentary series Cricket Fever: Mumbai Indians. This was Netflix’s first sports-related show from India, as well as the first IPL team to be featured in a documentary.
