IPL 2023: Mumbai Indians fancied to bounce back this year
Mumbai Indians have plenty of superstar talent at their disposal, they are a little thin on the ground in the spin bowling department.
Having won the Indian Premier League title on five previous occasions, things have not gone according to plan for the Mumbai Indians in the past couple of years.
They have twice missed out on the play-offs and suffered the embarrassment of finishing bottom of the table last time around.
However, if the latest outright market is to believed, it appears that sports bettors in the Middle East and further afield have kept the faith.
The latest Cricket betting sites in the UAE ranks the Indians as second favourites to lift the trophy when the competition concludes in May.
With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at why many people believe the Indians can put the last couple of years firmly behind them.
Indians pin their hopes on superstars
Pivotal to the Indians’ hopes of success will be fast bowler Jofra Archer, who has made an impressive return to competitive cricket following a lengthy spell out of the sport.
The 27-year-old played in the SA20 league earlier this year and marked his comeback with some excellent performances for MI Cape Town.
Archer has set his sights on featuring for England in their upcoming Ashes Test series against Australia and will be desperate to impress in the IPL.
Having helped England win their first 50-over World Cup in 2019, Archer understands what it takes to shine in the shorter version of the game.
While he will be an integral part of the Indians’ bid to bounce back to form this season, he is not alone in giving the five-time champions a genuine chance of success.
Tim David and Cameron Green give the squad a sprinkling of stardust that many other rival teams in the IPL struggle to match.
The Indians acquired David for INR 8.25 crore at the IPL 2022 auction, while Green was snapped up for INR 17.50 crore this year.
David knows his way around the T20 circuit and is the type of player who can turn a game on its head in just a couple of overs.
Green has been in fine form for Australia, recently notching his maiden international century against India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
While the Indians have plenty of superstar talent at their disposal, they are a little thin on the ground in the spin bowling department.
Despite this, they can ill-afford another disappointing season and look a good bet to bounce back to form with a vengeance this year.
Mumbai Indians IPL 2023 squad
Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Ramandeep Singh, Dewald Brevis, Ishan Kishan, Jasprit Bumrah, Kumar Kartikeya Singh, Jofra Archer, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Tim David, Tristan Stubbs, Arshad Khan, Akash Madhwal, Jason Behrendorf, Cameron Green, Jhye Richardson, Piyush Chawla, Duan Jansen, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Vishnu Vinod.
