The Indian Premier League (IPL) is back in India after the last season was played in the United Arab Emirates due to coronavirus. Even without home crowd support, Mumbai Indians triumphed in the scorching heat of the UAE to clinch their fifth IPL title -- the most by any franchise in the tournament's history. The defending champions, captained by Rohit Sharma, will begin their title defence in the tournament opener against Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai on April 9. Rohit has a chance to create history by becoming the first captain to win three IPL back-to-back titles.
MI's new stars:
Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Milne and Jimmy Neesham were bought by the defending champions in the players auction but the talk of the town was the recruitment of Arjun Tendulkar.
Mumbai Indians roped in the son of legendary Sachin Tendulkar for his base price of Rs 20 lakh.
The five-time IPL champions also included the experienced Piyush Chawla in their ranks to bolster the spin department.
South African youngster Marco Jansen and Indian uncapped Yudhvir Charak were also bought during the auction by Mumbai Indians.
Old Stalwarts:
MI kept their core set of players intact ahead of the auction. Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah will all be donning the blue and gold once again in the upcoming IPL season.
The likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan, who have been a part of the Mumbai-based franchise for a number of seasons, will once again look to steer their franchise to another triumph.
Mumbai Indians' journey in last season:
MI won nine matches and lost just five in the league stages and as a result topped the points table with 18 points.
The Rohit Sharma-led side then defeated Delhi Capitals twice (once in the Qualifier and then in the final) to clinch the title.
If Mumbai Indians manage to repeat the heroics of last seasons, not only they will extend their record of most IPL wins to six but they will also become the first team to win three titles consecutively.