IPL 2023: SWOT Analysis of Mumbai Indians (MI)

The 16th edition of the Indian Premier League is about to get underway in a few days as the fans are eagerly waiting to see their favourite franchises back in action. If there’s any team which has ruled the IPL in its 16-year-long history, it's Mumbai Indians. The Rohit Sharma-led side is the most successful franchise in the history of the tournament (in terms of trophies won) having won the coveted trophy five times.

However, the five-time champions failed to live up to their reputation in the 2022 edition as they put up their worst performance ever in IPL and finished last on the points table. Not only that, but they also got the ignominy of becoming the first team to lose eight consecutive matches in the T20 extravaganza.

With the 2023 season all set to begin in a few days, MI have an uphill task of changing their fortunes in the upcoming season. They’ve made some notable additions to their squad in the mini-auction and will be eager to pounce on their oppositions one by one and claim their sixth title in 2023. As Mumbai prepare themselves for another title win, let’s do a complete SWOT analysis of the most successful franchise of the competition:

SWOT analysis of Mumbai Indians for IPL 2023:

Strengths – Powerpacked batting line up

Having the likes of Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Tim David, Dewald Brevis and Rohit Sharma in their squad, Mumbai have enough fire-power in their batting to rip apart any bowling attack on their day. Suryakumar Yadav has been in sublime form in T20Is over the past one year as he’s climbed to the top of T20I batter rankings and will be eager to replicate the same for the franchise.

Ishan Kishan had a decent season last year as he scored 400 plus runs, however, the southpaw will look to perform consistently throughout the season in the upcoming edition. Dewald Brevis, Tim David and Tristan Stubbs bring with them the youthful exuberance and explosive modern T20 batting while Rohit Sharma’s prowess is known to everyone. With their star-studded lineup, the oppositions will find it difficult to stop the onslaught from Mumbai batters.

Weaknesses – Many gaps to fill in the bowling department

The absence of their star seamer Jasprit Bumrah is going to hurt Mumbai big time as he’s set to miss the entire season. The injury of Jhye Richardson has further made matters worse for the Mumbai-based franchise. However, the positive thing for the side is the return of Jofra Archer who was missed big time in the 2022 season.  The spin department also lacks experience which the management tried to fix by roping in the experienced Piyush Chawla into their team.

However, the wrist spinner has been out of action for some time as he last played an IPL game back in 2021. Youngsters Nehal Wadhere, Kumar Kartikeya, Hrithik Shokeen and Shams Mulani will have to step up their game to stop the run flow in the middle overs. The five-time champions have many gaps to fill in the bowling department, for which they might take a few games to settle at the start of the tournament.

Opportunities – Chance for several players to prove their worth

Rohit Sharma had his worst season ever in the history of the competition in 2022 as he could only amass 268 runs across 14 matches and also failed to score a single half-century for his side. 

The MI captain hasn’t had a remarkable season in IPL since 2017 as he’s been averaging in the 20s for the past six years. The upcoming season will be a perfect opportunity for the flamboyant opener to regain his form keeping the upcoming ODI World Cup 2023 in mind. 

Mumbai almost emptied their purse to get the services of the Australian all-rounder Cameron Green as they spent INR 17.50 crore out of INR 20.55 crore to get him onboard. The 23-year-old has risen up the ranks ever since making his debut in 2020 and will be a key player for the five-time champions in the upcoming season.

Threats – Mountain of injuries to conquer

Mumbai have a herculean task at hand to find like-for-like replacements for the injured players and the most difficult task would be to replace the veteran seamer, Jasprit Bumrah. The replacement for the injured Australian seamer Jhye Richardson is also yet to be announced.

With the tournament just a couple days away, the franchise has not found ideal replacements for the speedsters which hints at a possible confusion in the management in terms of the bowling department. 

MI historically have had the best bowling attack heading into a season which is evident through the number of titles they’ve won. The unfilled gaps in the bowling arsenal could prove to be detrimental for the IPL heavyweights and may even result in another forgettable season like 2022.

Mumbai Indians Final Squad 2023:

Mumbai Indians 2023 IPL squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ramandeep Singh, Dewald Brevis, Ishan Kishan (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Kumar Kartikeya Singh, Jofra Archer, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Tim David, Tristan Stubbs, Arshad Khan, Akash Madhwal, Jason Behrendorff, Cameron Green, Jhye Richardson, Piyush Chawla, Duan Jansen, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Vishnu Vinod, Raghav Goyal