Mumbai Indians were pioneers in the IPL; they are now playing catch-up

The name Mumbai Indians means Indian Premier League royalty. It’s a franchise that commands the awe and respect of fans across the country, boasting a team that ran on continuity, effectiveness, and a spirit of familial ties that went above and beyond the playing field.

MI were the pioneers of bringing data and scouting into the franchise circuit. Not too long ago, they were regarded as arguably the best-ever franchise cricket side to be assembled, having secured a record fifth IPL title in 2020.

Right now, however, the Mumbai Indians are seventh in this season’s IPL points table, massively playing catch-up not just to the leaders but also, sadly, to the rest of the sides in terms of adapting to changing times.

This season has seen MI spiral freely from one crisis to another with no end in sight. Their loss against Punjab Kings the other night was their fourth consecutive loss of the season and their second straight at home. While they did manage to get back to winning ways against the Gujarat Titans, the skipper and team management have openly spoken about the team being unable to make the hard decisions needed and struggling to find their identity.

The last thing you want to hear from a franchise as storied as MI is that they do not have an identity or are in search of it. That is a damning indictment of the timeline they find themselves in, where the teams who once aimed to emulate them are now leapfrogging them in terms of identity, structure, and adaptability.

This season, their batting unit has simply failed to fire. Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, and Hardik Pandya have failed in the middle order. Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton have failed to provide the explosive starts that they were so effortlessly providing last season.

With the ball, none of their bowlers have managed to cover themselves in glory, with the wicketless campaign Jasprit Bumrah has endured thus far hurting the side big time.

The team seem to run out of ideas every time they hit adversity. The skipper’s body language signifies more disinterest than an eagerness to pull his side back into contests. The senior figures in the side are simply not taking the responsibility to steady things up when the ship has been sinking.

Constant chopping and changing in the batting order, wayward bowling right from the onset, and even player availability have hampered the Mumbai Indians big time this season. However, the root of all this malaise can be traced down to a singular call made way back in 2024 that has changed the franchise and the things it stands for.

It was the aftermath of the 2023 season, during which MI, under Rohit Sharma, made the play-offs, only to lose against Hardik Pandya’s Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 2. Rohit then went on to lead India to the ODI World Cup final later in the year, only to suffer heartbreak against Australia.

The MI head brass thought that it was time to have a change in the leadership. So came about the trade that saw Hardik make a homecoming. Now, the ideal course of succession planning would have been for Rohit to continue leading the side in the 2024 season, after which the reins could be given to Hardik ahead of the mega-auction for the 2025 season.

But everything was so poorly handled from the inner circle that the 2024 season turned out to be a complete dumpster fire. While Hardik undoubtedly has the leadership chops in him, it does feel like he is unable to perform under pressure, and his body language tends to drop at the first sight of pressure. Whether it is him trying too hard or not, it does not put him in a good light.

It has been five years since they last lifted that trophy. In that period, they have had two bottom-placed finishes, while the Chennai Super Kings went on to win two IPL titles in the same span to get level with them in terms of trophies. Their scouting still remains peerless, but opportunities for those promising players are now few and far between.

The Mumbai Indians often refer to themselves as “One Family”. Nowadays, they seem like it is anything but a family. For so long the pioneers and standard-bearers of the IPL, MI are falling behind, unable to keep up with the changing times.