Given how volatile and fast-changing T20 is as a format, the Mumbai Indians’ consistent success in the IPL is something to marvel at, and for other franchises, all around the world, to learn from. MI picked up their fifth IPL title this year, making it only the second time that a team has managed to defend their title, after the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) won back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011. The Rohit Sharma-led side were the best team in the competition by far, and they can legitimately be called the best T20 side in the world at the moment. They were dominant in terms of batting and bowling, while they also beat the losing finalist, Delhi Capitals (DC), all four times they met in the tournament (twice in the league stage, the 1st Qualifier and then the final), further underscoring just how far ahead they were of the other sides this year. MI were the best team on a whole host of metrics as well, and they are clear evidence of how a well-structured squad and proper planning for matches can help franchise teams be dominant in T20 cricket. Here, we will use our data analysis to analyse their campaign, and see how they became the champions.
Season Overview
MI have traditionally begun their IPL seasons extremely slowly, often being in positions where they need to win their last four or five games to make it to the playoffs in recent seasons. That was not the case this time around, even though Mumbai did have an average start, losing two of their first three games. Those included a loss in the tournament opener to CSK, while they also contrived to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in a Super Over loss to the Royal Challengers Bangalore. However, MI went on a superb run after that, winning their next five games in a row to be in a very strong position around the halfway mark of the league stage. The team did lose another Super Over to Kings XI Punjab, but became the first side to qualify for the playoffs, and having topped the league stage, beat DC in the Qualifier to make it to the final, where they beat the Delhi side again to confirm their fifth IPL title, and seventh trophy overall (including two Champions League wins).
Batting Performance
MI probably had the most complete batting lineup of all the teams. Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma formed a formidable opening partnership, with Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav providing solid batting as well as explosive hitting power if needed below them. That freed up Hardik Pandya, Keiron Pollard and Krunal Pandya to focus on clearing the ropes as much as possible, as the batsmen before them usually set them up quite well towards the death overs. Mumbai’s batting performances were a big reason for their success this season.
The chart looks at the performance of the MI batsmen in the IPL this season. Their strike rates and averages are plotted on the axes, with the size of the dot indicating the runs scored.
As can be seen, MI had quite a few standout batting performer this season. 22-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan was the top scorer for Mumbai, with 516 runs, and this is made even more impressive by the fact that he played 14 of MI’s 16 games in the tournament. He scored at a rapid rate of 145.6, and had a very good average of 57.33 as well, but he was cruelly denied a maiden IPL century, getting out on 99 against the RCB in the aforementioned game which MI lost in the Super Over. He was also promoted to open the batting in the games where Sharma was unavailable due to injury, scoring 68, 37, 25 and 72 in those four games, to put his name forward as another opening option for the franchise if needed.
Another young Indian batsman, Suryakumar Yadav, had a super season as well, scoring 480 runs at an average of 40.00 and a strike rate of 145.01. He also managed four innings of 50 runs or more, as did Kishan and de Kock, which shows how the Mumbai top order was usually able to set the pace and provide a good platform for the big hitters to come. Yadav usually came in at No. 3, but while traditional wisdom suggests that players coming in to bat at that position need to play a relatively more conservative role, anchoring the innings, Yadav turned that on its head, playing aggressively to ensure that MI’s scoring rate remained high through the middle overs, which has usually been a lean period for batting sides in T20s.
Another example of how settled MI have been this season was seen through the form of Quinton de Kock. The South African, who also took the gloves during the bowling innings, was first choice opener, despite Chris Lynn in reserve. Mumbai had a very clear idea of what their best lineup was, and they only made minor tweaks based on the opposition and the pitch. De Kock scored 503 runs at 140.5 and averaged 35.92. The form of both their openers usually meant that MI were able to dominate matches right from the start. MI’s depth and quality is illustrated by the fact that Sharma was not the focus of the team this year, and wasn’t even the best performer with the bat. A hamstring injury kept him out for four games, which meant that he had a relatively fallow season with the bat, scoring 332 runs at an average of 27.66 and a strike rate of 127.69. However, this included three scores of 50+, including an excellent innings of 80 in MI’s second game of the season against KKR, a score of 70 against KXIP and a knock of 68 in the final.
The platform provided by the top four meant that MI’s power hitters were able to come in and accelerate from the first ball, and boy did they do so. Pollard may only have scored 268 runs, but he did so at a monstrous strike rate of 191.42, remaining unbeaten seven times as well to have an average of 53.6. Hardik Pandya had similar numbers – 281 runs at a strike rate of 171.98, while the older Pandya brother, Krunal, had a muted impact with the bat, scoring 109 runs at a strike rate of 118.47. Nevertheless, this points to a clear demarcation of roles within the side, and the team was able to take advantage of this by chasing down totals early, or setting big targets, both of which also meant that they boasted the best net run rate (NRR) of the eight teams by a big margin.
These two charts show a comparison between the eight teams for average and run rate across the different phases of the batting innings this season. MI had an average run rate of 9.08 this season, which was the best of all the teams, while if we look at the breakdown between match phases, the aforementioned power hitting at the death can be seen by the fact that MI scored 12.4 RPO in the death overs – nearly 2 runs per over more than the next best side, the Rajasthan Royals. One of the biggest reasons for this high scoring rate was their ability to clear the ropes. MI hit 137 sixes this season, 32 more than the Rajasthan Royals in second place. This came to the fore at the death as well, where the MI batsmen hit a six every 5.9 balls on average. Their average during this time was also the highest of any team. It is clear that Mumbai’s batting was tremendous this season, and their death overs hitting, in particular, was a cut above the rest.
Bowling Performance
MI also boasted one of the best and most well-balanced bowling attacks this season, capable of taking wickets up front in the Powerplay, squeezing scoring during the middle overs, and choking teams out at the death. Jasprit Bumrah remains one of the best T20 bowlers in the world, but he was ably supported, and even surpassed, by New Zealand international Trent Boult. The duo formed a formidable pace attack right up front, while James Pattinson was brilliant as the support act as well. In terms of spin, Krunal Pandya and Rahul Chahar were excellent, while Pollard also turned his arm over when needed.
This chart looks at the MI bowlers’ performance – strike rate and economy are on the axes, with the size of the dot indicating wickets taken.
Bumrah led the wicket-taking charts for MI with 27 wickets, finishing second behind Kagiso Rabada of DC in the overall standings. He was once again extremely difficult to score off, with an economy rate of 6.73, while he struck every 13.3 balls on average. This is made even more remarkable by the fact that Bumrah had a slow start to the IPL, taking 3-4 matches to get into his groove. However, this was not too much of a concern, largely due to the form of Boult. He took 25 wickets at an impressive strike rate of 13.7, even though he was more expensive than Bumrah, going at 7.97 runs per over during this season. This new-ball pair was backed up by the likes of Pattinson (11 wickets, 9.01 economy, 19.3 strike rate) and Chahar (15 wickets, 8.16 economy and 21.2 strike rate). MI were especially brilliant in the Powerplay overs, picking up 31 wickets in that phase of the innings, the most of all the teams, led by Bumrah, Boult and Pattinson. Chahar and Krunal Pandya were superb at tying up the opposition during the middle overs – even though Pandya only picked up 6 wickets this season, he conceded only 7.57 runs per over on average, which helped build up pressure on the batsmen and led to them losing their wickets to the other MI bowlers.
This chart compares the economy rates of the eight sides across the different phases of the innings. MI were the best team in the Powerplay by far – in fact, they were the only team to concede less than seven runs per over during the first six overs, averaging an economy rate of 6.99. MI’s wicket-taking ability during this time was a big reason for them keeping opposition batsmen relatively quiet during a high-scoring phase of the game. This can also be seen at the death, where once again MI had the best economy rate of all teams, at 8.95. Boult and Bumrah were excellent during the last four overs, with Bumrah especially being a master at bowling at the death, and this bowling outperformance at the start and end of innings was a big factor in MI’s bowling performance this season.
Conclusion
MI were the most consistent side in this season’s IPL, and a big reason for this was the fact that they were able to name relatively settled XIs for every game. Mumbai used just 15 players this season, the lowest of the eight teams, and their early qualification for the playoffs meant that they were able to rest some key players for the last league game. That is why that number is as high as 15 – it could have been even lower if MI had gone full-strength in that game too. There was a definite sense of batting and bowling units, rather than a team dependent on just one or two players, even with Indian white-ball icons such as Sharma and Bumrah in the side. There were clear roles for every person in the team, while Sharma and the MI management are big on analytics and match-ups as well, bringing on bowlers based on the opposition batsman and his weaknesses. All of this combined to make MI deserved champions, and they are definitely the blueprint for any T20 side in the world to follow at the moment.