Mumbai Indians have long been one of the most successful teams in the IPL, having won five titles. Last season, their performance was solid but not their best, as they qualified for the playoffs by finishing fourth in the league stage, defeated Gujarat Titans in the Eliminator, but were ultimately knocked out by Punjab Kings in Qualifier 2. Their pre-season camp began on March 16 at their home ground, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, with the squad’s opening IPL match scheduled for March 29 against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Mumbai Squad: Hardik Pandya (C), Quinton de Kock, Danish Malewar, Robin Minz, Ryan Rickelton, Sherfane Rutherford, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Atharva Ankolekar, Raj Bawa, Corbin Bosch, Will Jacks, Mayank Rawat, Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Tilak Varma, Ashwani Kumar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Deepak Chahar, AM Ghazanfar, Mayank Markande, Mohd Izhar, Raghu Sharma
Probable Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock (WK), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (C), Naman Dhir, Will Jacks, Shardul Thakur, Mitchell Santner, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult / AM Ghazanfar Impact Player: Ashwani Kumar / Deepak Chahar
Injury Update: No injuries have been reported; all players are available for selection.
Speaking to the media, Head Coach Mahela Jayawardene offered a glowing assessment of Rohit Sharma ahead of the new season: “He has done a lot of work behind the scenes, focusing on skill development over the past week. He joined us on the first day of the training camp and looked very good in the nets. This is a newer version of Rohit — much fitter and extremely committed. I’m looking forward to him leading us from the top.”
Apart from Rohit, Mumbai Indians are packed with superstars — Hardik Pandya, the team’s captain; Suryakumar Yadav, India’s T20I captain and a fresh T20 World Cup winner; and Jasprit Bumrah, one of the world’s premier bowlers. The squad looks well-balanced and capable of competing on all fronts. Rohit has been actively participating in multiple practice sessions at Wankhede Stadium as Mumbai Indians aim to clinch their sixth IPL title this season.