5 reasons why Mumbai Indians could win the IPL this year

Mumbai Indians have been one of the better sides in the Indian Premier League, having won the IPL title a record three times and the now-defunct Champions League once.

Last season they finished fifth and hence they did not qualify for the playoffs. Their batting was a concern but now they have addressed this issue by adding useful recruits like Quinton de Kock, Yuvraj Singh. The experience of Yuvraj Singh in the middle will be handy for the side if he gets to play.

They have always had slow starts to the season but when it comes to crunch times, they somehow know to win almost every match and hence are pretty difficult to deal with pressure increasing by each passing game.

Let's take a closer look why they'll win the tournament.

#1 One of the most settled core groups among all franchises

File photo of Mumbai Indians' celebration at the Wankhede stadium

Mumbai Indians have one of the most settled cores with many players being with the side for more than 5 seasons, which means the word 'togetherness' is well defined in the squad.

They have one of the most capable top order with the opening combination of Suryakumar Yadav and Evin Lewis working well last season.

#2 One of the most successful captains of IPL - Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma has been a phenomenal captain for the franchise.

Since the time Sachin Tendulkar stepped down from captaincy in IPL 2012, the Mumbai-based franchise had been struggling to find a full-time captain, with none of the options being successful. But when Rohit Sharma took over the captaincy from the legend Ricky Ponting in 2013, fortunes changed for MI as he led the franchise to their first IPL trophy.

In the same season, the franchise won the now-defunct Champions League under his captaincy. The side also won in 2015 and 2017 season becoming the then-most successful team in IPL history.

Rohit Sharma's capability to extract the best from their players makes him flourish as a captain.

#3 One of the most lethal squad of all-rounders

The trio for MI - Pollard and the Pandya brothers

MI has one of the best mixes of all all-rounders who have been for the franchise for a while now. They gained the services of Kieron Pollard in the 2010 IPL auction and he has been an integral part of the side in their three title triumphs. Till date, Pollard has played in 121 games for Mumbai Indians, scoring 2477 runs at a strike rate of 145.79.

The second recruit they made was the then a raw entity Hardik Pandya. Hardik has been a cheeky recruit for the side as he has been their main finisher after the decline of Kieron Pollard, as well as bowling four good overs for the side.

In the upcoming years, they added Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya's elder brother. he has played well together for the side and the franchise will be hoping that they fire this season as well. They have a good backup option in the form of Ben Cutting who was the man of the match in the finals of the 2016 Sunrisers Hyderabad winning campaign.

#4 The best coaching staff in the business

The Mumbai based franchise has had one of the best coaching staff among all teams. They have the legend Sachin Tendulkar as the icon, Mahela Jayawardene as the head coach, Robin Singh as the batting coach, James Bond as the bowling coach, Zaheer Khan as the director of cricket operations, and James Pamment as the fielding coach.

It is a paradise for the young talent to play with. The experience they have gives an upper edge to the side in crunch moments.

Reliable and solid pace attack to break the opposition's batting.

Malinga will be back to lead the solid pace attack for MI.

They have a top quality bowling line up which can bowl on any decks. Jasprit Bumrah, the world No.1 ODI bowler, has been one of the best death-bowler specialists for India. His unorthodox action and change of pace can bamboozle the batsmen. In the 61 matches he has played for the side, he has taken 63 wickets at an economy of 7.89 at an average of 28.16.

They have a formidable international pace attack with Lasith Malinga, Mitchell McClenaghan and Jason Behrendorff sharing the boots. Malinga has been the leading wicket-taker for the side as well as in the IPL with 154 wickets to his name in just 110 matches at an astonishing economy of 6.89.

McClenaghan has also been good for the franchise whenever it comes to crunch moments. Jason Behrendorff provides necessary backup for the side in the bowling department.