3 issues that can hurt Mumbai Indians in IPL 2023

To say the Mumbai Indians had a disappointing IPL 2022 would be an understatement of epic proportions. The five-time IPL champions lost their first eight games of the campaign, the worst-ever start to a season by any franchise in the tournament's history, and finished bottom of the standings.

Player auctions play a huge role in deciding a team's fortunes, and perhaps some of the decisions made by the MI management at the 2022 Mega Auction came back to bite them later.

In pursuit of buying Ishan Kishan and Jofra Archer, they shelled out almost Rs 25 crore, which eventually cost them as they failed to assemble a strong bowling attack for the season.

They did buy some hard-hitting batters in Dewald Brevis, Tilak Verma, Tristan Stubbs and Tim David, which paid off as they had the second-highest death overs strike rate in IPL 2022. Their powerplay bowling economy of 7.65 was also one of the best in the competition.

However, the Mumbai Indians have a record like no other in the IPL, and a season like last year's would have been a huge disappointment for everyone in the franchise.

Going into the 2023 season, the Rohit Sharma-led franchise will have a few reasons to be optimistic. However, they still have some issues that might hamper their chances at lifting a sixth title.

Here's a look at the problems the Mumbai Indians may face in the upcoming edition of the IPL:

Batting woes

If any team has an opening duo of Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan, then you can only imagine fireworks in the Power Play. Considering Rohit's game against pace and that of Ishan's game against spin, and the ideal right-hand, left-hand combo, they could demolish any kind of bowling attack.

However, the two were extra cautious in Powerplay overs in IPL 2022, striking at only 116 in the first six overs.

With their middle order stacked with attacking but inexperienced youngsters like Tilak Verma and Dewald Brevis, they lacked the required depth to pull the team out of trouble often enough.

Their batsmen also struggled against pace bowling, striking at a rate of 131 — the lowest for any team in the tournament. Coupled with a poor 15.1 balls per dismissal, the side were unable to put up a competitive score or chase down targets.

They also had the worst overall team strike rate and boundary percentage in IPL 2022, which explains the problem they need to sort out in this edition, or the results will be the same as last season for them.

Middle-overs bowling muddle

The Mumbai Indians have never been fond of having premier spinners in their ranks, and last season was no different. They had two quality leg spinners in Murugan Ashwin and Mayank Markande, but their performances weren't as expected.

Not only did they fail to control the flow of runs, but their lack of wickets also cost them big time.

They also rued the absence of a middle-over enforcer. However, the acquisition of Australian all-rounder Cameron Green provides a high-quality option for the Mumbai Indians to use in the middle-overs.

Death-overs bowling

The Mumbai Indians have always invested heavily in their bowling department, especially in death overs specialists, which has been their top priority.

They have had Mitchell Johnson and Lasith Malinga in the past to partner Jasprit Bumrah in death overs, but shelling out a huge chunk of money on Jofra Archer, who did not participate last season due to injury, made them buy domestic players for that role.

They performed well within their capabilities, but there was a lot left to be desired. With Archer's return, Mumbai Indians supporters will be hoping for a better showing than last time.