Mumbai Indians, the record five-time IPL champions, are just one step away from another appearance in a final. The Rohit Sharma-led side thrashed Lucknow Super Giants by 81 runs in the Eliminator on Wednesday to book a place in Qualifier 2 against defending champions Gujarat Titans.
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It has been quite a turnaround for Mumbai Indians in 2023 after making a disastrous start to the season.
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A team in transition after the departure of household names like Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya and injury to Jasprit Bumrah, Mumbai have been trying to find their feet again in IPL.
They suffered a 10th-placed finish last season.
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The 2023 edition at the start looked like it was going to be a repeat of the last season with MI losing four out of the first seven matches. However, they quickly turned around their fortunes winning five out of the last seven games to qualify for the playoffs as the fourth-placed side.
That Mumbai Indians mounted another incredible comeback is not a surprise but what is heartening is that the success so far this season has been built on the back of debutants and youngsters leading from the front and the veterans providing the able support.
The debutants
Five Indian players have been given debut this season by MI — Nehal Wadhera, Arshad Khan, Arjun Tendulkar, Akash Madhwal and Raghav Goyal.
All of these players have played a winning role at some point or the other.
In the Eliminator, it was Akash Madhwal who shined with five wickets for just five runs. He is the first bowler to take a fifer in the IPL playoffs. The Uttrakhand pacer also took four wickets in victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad which sealed playoffs qualification for MI.
Madhwal started playing professional cricket only four years back, The fact that MI picked him and backed him is another example of their robust scouting system.
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Another successful product of the same robust system is Nehal Wadhera.
In his debut season, the 22-year-old Punjab cricketer has smashed 237 runs at a strike rate of 145. He has two fifties this season including a match-winning one against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Arshad Khan has taken five wickets opening the bowling, while Arjun Tendulkar’s last-over heroics helped MI beat SRH and the junior Tendulkar has three wickets to his name in four matches.
Tilak shines again
Tilak Varma had a memorable debut last season, scoring 397 in 14 matches and emerging as one of the few positives for MI in IPL 2022. He has continued his form in 2023, accumulating 300 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 154 an increase from last season when it was 131.
Another player who has been a big performer in 2023 is all-rounder Cameron Green.
The Australian has scored 422 runs at a strike rate of 161 and has also scalped six wickets, proving that good all-rounders can make an impact even in the era of ‘impact player’.
Green’s returns have also justified MI spending Rs 17.5 crore on him in the 2023 auction.
While the coveted IPL trophy is still two steps away for the young Mumbai Indians team, the debutants and youngsters have already made it a season to remember for the paltan, enhancing the franchise’s reputation of being the best team at grooming young players into superstars.
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