First-XI form concerns for Mumbai Indians

Likely first-choice XI

1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Parthiv Patel (wk), 3 Jos Buttler, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Lasith Malinga

Reserves

Batsmen: Lendl Simmons, Nicolas Pooran, Siddhesh Lad, Saurabh Tiwary, Nitish Rana, Jitesh Sharma
Bowlers: Vinay Kumar, J Suchith
Allrounders: Asela Gunaratne, Shreyas Gopal, Karn Sharma, Deepak Punia, K Gowtham

Strengths

A settled top order, with Rohit Sharma fit. A fine bowling unit, especially in the death overs - imagine Lasith Malinga from one end and Jasprit Bumrah from the other. And a roster full of options, which includes World T20 champion Lendl Simmons, former World Cup champion Mitchell Johnson, the fastest New Zealander to 50 ODI wickets, Mitchell McClenaghan, and Vinay Kumar, who has over 400 first-class wickets.

Weaknesses

Traditionally slow to start. Their win-loss record after five games over the last three seasons reads 2-3, 1-4 and 0-5 - although they ended up champions in 2015.

Trouble at the top. They used five different opening combinations last year; the count was four even when they won the title.

Rohit has been offsetting both issues but he comes into the tournament having played only two competitive matches since October 2016. Fixing a proper position for him in the batting order will be important for the team's balance and performance.

Where they finished in 2016, and how they have changed

A portion of their home matches were shifted to Visakhapatnam due to widespread water scarcity in Maharashtra last year. Without the comfort of the flat pitch and fast outfield at Wankhede stadium, Mumbai finished fifth out of eight teams.

Mahela Jayawardene has been drafted in to coach the team in 2017, taking over from the highly successful Ricky Ponting.

They purchased seven players in the 2017 auction. Johnson, who was crucial to their triumph in 2013, was their most high-profile buy. Jharkhand batsman Saurabh Tiwary returned to the fold as well.

Among the new recruits was Sri Lanka allrounder Asela Gunaratne, who struck back-to-back fifties to seal a T20I series in Australia. They also lined-up back-ups for Harbhajan Singh in legspinner Karn Sharma and offspinner K Gowtham.

Considering the IPL is a tournament where unfancied names can surprise, there may be interest in uncapped left-arm fast bowler Kulwant Khejrolia. He has so far played only seven List A matches, picking up 17 wickets, including a five-for, at an average of 18.05.

What have their players been up to?

• Rohit was in excellent form the last time he played for India, scoring a match-winning 70 on a slow Visakhapatnam pitch against New Zealand. But that was six months ago. Since then he has scored 16 and 4 in his two competitive matches.
• Malinga has only just returned from an ankle injury that took an entire year out of his career. Still he looked pretty good steaming in against Australia in February and is expected to join the squad after April 6, after Sri Lanka's T20Is against Bangladesh.
• Jos Buttler got an extended taste of Indian conditions, playing for England last season. However, in 12 innings across three formats, he only struck one half-century.
• Kieron Pollard's highest score among his 12 most recent international innings is 22. One of the most powerful hitters in the world, he has sometimes been shown up by quality short-pitched fast bowling.
• On the plus side, Jasprit Bumrah has been excellent in limited-overs cricket, and even helped India recover from a losing position in the Nagpur T20I against England a little over two months ago. Since then he has been active in 50-over domestic cricket, taking 13 wickets in five matches.

Overseas-player availability

Mumbai is one team that hasn't been ravaged by injury. The worst they might have to deal with is Tim Southee, who is recuperating from a hamstring problem.

Buttler has been allowed to stay back in India through the time England play an ODI series against Ireland, but he will be back on national duty from May 14.

Home and away record in 2016

They won two of their four matches in Mumbai before playing the rest of them in Visakhapatnam, where they were bowled out for 92 and 124 before finally racking up a total of 206 and winning by 80 runs. A loss in their final game of the season sent them tumbling out of the playoff equation.

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