4 players who have scored a century for Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians are the most successful franchise in the Indian Premier League, having won the title for a record three times (tied with Chennai Super Kings). A team boasting Shaun Pollock, Harbhajan Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Sanath Jayasuriya as its alumins, Mumbai have always had the stars in their squad.

Surprisingly, only four of the Mumbai Indians players have been able to cross the three-figure mark while batting for the franchise. Here are the players who scored a hundred playing for the Mukesh Ambani owned franchise.

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#4 Sanath Jayasuriya - 114* off 48 vs Chennai Super Kings, 14th May 2008

Sanath Jayasuriya was the first player to score a hundred for Mumbai Indians

After winning the toss, Mumbai Indians elected to field first as they took on MS Dhoni’s mighty Chennai Super Kings. A clinical bowling performance by South African great, Shaun Pollock (4-1-9-1), had CSK 46/4 at the end of nine overs. MS Dhoni (43*) stitched a quick-fire 95 run partnership with Subramaniam Badrinath (53), and redressed the balance as the Super Kings scored 156/6 in their 20 overs.

It appeared that Chennai could defend the total with the likes of L Balaji, Albie Morkel, Manpreet Gony and Muttiah Muralitharan among their bowling ranks.

Then began the Sanath Jayasuriya show, who played an innings reminiscent to the mid-90s, where bowlers feared to bowl at this Sri Lankan legend.

With the Wankhede crowd behind him, Jayasuriya smacked nine fours and 11 maximums to bring up his maiden IPL century. There was nothing the helpless Chennai bowlers could do once he got going. This was the second-fastest hundred back then in 2008. Mumbai Indians scored 78 runs in their first six overs and sealed the deal by chasing down the target with 6.1 overs and nine wickets remaining. This victory helped MI avenge their loss against CSK in their first encounter.

#3 Sachin Tendulkar - 100* off 66 vs Kochi Tuskers Kerala, 15 April 2011

This was Sachin's first and only IPL hundred

The visiting captain Mahela Jayawardene put Mumbai Indians into bat on a flat Wankhede track. Sachin Tendulkar opened the innings with CLT20 star, David Jacobs as they put on 61 runs for the first wicket.

Jacobs lost his wicket in the 8th over, but that did not stop the Little Master as he lasted the entire 20 overs to score his first IPL century off the last ball. Batting on 99*, Sachin dragged a low full toss from Vinay Kumar on the off side to take a single and reach the milestone. However, Mumbai lost their match against Kochi by eight wickets thanks to Brendon McCullum and Jayawardene’s exploits.

#2 Rohit Sharma- 109*(60) vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 12th May 2012

Rohit Sharma

Mumbai Indians lost the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar in the 2nd over as Rohit Sharma came out to bat at number three. Rohit stabilized the innings along with Herschelle Gibbs, and helped to lay down a platform for the death overs.

The Mumbai-born batsman went for the short ball and dispatched it with comfort. He hooked a Brett Lee bouncer for a maximum over the square leg boundary and cut Shakib Al Hasan’s deliveries through the off side. On 99, he flicked Lee’s full length delivery to the leg side for a single to bring up his first IPL hundred.

#1 Lendl Simmons- 100*(61) vs Kings XI Punjab, 21 May 2014

Lendl Simmons celebrates after scoring his century

Lendl Simmons was the last player to score a century for the Mumbai Indians. He achieved this feat against Kings XI Punjab at the PCA Stadium.

KXIP set Mumbai Indians a target of 157. Simmons opened the innings Micheal Hussey, and was spot on from ball one as he tore apart the KXIP bowling attack. His 100* comprised of 14 fours and two sixes, as Mumbai Indians achieved the target with one over to spare.

None of the Mumbai Indians’ batsmen have been able to score a hundred in the last four seasons of IPL which is quite surprising. Hopefully, we may see centuries from the bats of Evin Lewis, Suryakumar Yadav and even skipper Rohit Sharma in the forthcoming editions of the league.