From iSport's IPL Paddock we bring to you an IPL special. iSporter Saurabh Joshi makes his debut by expressing his views on Mumbai Indians as a team in the past two IPL seasons and what can be expected in the forthcoming third season. Gear up as Saurabh writes on.
When the names of the stature of Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani and Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar crop up either individually or collectively, the first 2 things that come to mind are success and expectation. That is precisely what happened on the 24th day of January, 2008 when Mukesh Ambani rocketed a whopping $111.9 million bid to buy what was known as the most wanted team in the IPL, “Mumbai”! Tendulkar being announced as the ICON player for the team along with the Captain seemed like icing on the cake. The team name “Mumbai Indians” added the tri color flavor and the stage was set.
The team’s performances in the first two editions of the IPL left a lot to be desired. So what really went wrong for the Mumbai Indians?
Auction Fiasco for foreign players
From the choice of foreign players to the choice of Indian coaches, MI has been unusually conservative in making a bold statement. It seems that MI wishes to amortize the expense of purchasing the most expensive team in the IPL over a few years! The likes of Sanath Jayasurya, Shaun Pollock, Lasith Malinga and Dwayne Bravo were the key foreign players purchased. These players chipped in time and again but consistency was clearly lacking. Season 2 marked the arrival of a young South African J.P Duminy in the MI squad. Duminy lived up to the expectation by contributing regularly in a fragile looking middle order. In terms of foreign players, their ability was never in doubt, but the backup was clearly a concern. MI missed out on opportunities to invest in potential match winners in terms of all rounder’s, a strong middle order batsman and a wicket keeper who apart from his bread and butter job of keeping can also score a handful in tight situation.
If media reports are to be believed, all the player contracts expire after the Third IPL (as they were initially for 3 years) and the franchisees would be permitted to retain 4 Indian players and 2 foreign players whilst the rest would be re-auctioned again. This presents a great opportunity to cash in and make up for their disastrous choice of selection prior to the first IPL. Perhaps it would be a good idea to involve some cricketing brains during the planning for the next auction instead of sending some random corporate minds (like the first auction in 2008).
The Indian Contingent
Enough cribbing about the lack of foreign players in the team! All the teams in the IPL had strong foreign players but they were backed by solid performances by young emerging Indian players. In absolute contrast, MI, apart from few pieces of brilliance from Abhishek Nayar, were close to a no show! It seemed most of the time, that it was Sachin’s duty to be the gladiator of the team and save the face for them each time they took the field. He succeeded on some occasions but after all it’s a team game isn’t it?
What was clearly evident from the first 2 seasons of IPL was MI adopting the famous “Khadoos Cricket” approach where the strategies were cheeky and the aim was to achieve success out of sheer grit even with a mediocre talent! It works perfectly well for the Mumbai Ranji team. But then why didn’t it work for the MI’s? The answer is not that difficult, there were not enough players in the squad who are used to the “Khadoos style” of cricket. The style seemed to be imposed upon them. Performance of Manish Pandey, Ashish Nehra and Robin Uthappa for their respective sides in season 2 as compared to that of season 1 for MI clearly justify this fact. There were at least 8 games in the past 2 seasons where MI have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory! Very unlike Mumbai! MI could have been better off picking up some more Mumbai players.
The quest for the glory in Season 3 has kicked off with a silver lining around the dark cloud with the purchase of Kieron Pollard for a hefty amount. Impact players like Stuart Binny and Rajgopal Shatish (represented the rebel league ICL) should also be interesting to watch. However, lack of depth in bowling and absence of a specialized wicket keeper will hurt them badly.
The Mumbai crowds who are by far the most loyal and passionate in terms of support for the team as compared to other franchises (visit the stadiums this time around to believe me!) deserve a lot more from the Mumbai Indians.
In my opinion, the Mumbai Indians will continue to flatter by wining some unexpected clashes but the painful moments again will easily take care of the few happy ones.
I will be delighted if I am proved wrong!
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Sohel Topiwala
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... Saurabh. Congratulations on turning a Writer ! Its a great one. Very relevant and I agree with most of your views. MI will definitely continue to struggle this season. The next auction presents a great opportunity though. However, I think one major decision that will change the fortunes of the side is the choice of captain. Sachin, as we all know cant captain a side. Its just not natural to him. Who else in his place? Well, your guess is as good as mine. Maybe, next auction we should target buying a captain maybe someone like Graeme Smith. Parthiv Patel is another player I like and come what may we have to break the bank for him ! Welcome aboard my friend ! |
Saurabh Joshi
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... Thanks a lot Topi... Ur thoughts are always welcome..... With Sachin i think he is far more free as a captain then what he was ....) Thanks for your wishes Sohel Cheers!!! |
a guest
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... hey saurabh awesome write up .. the best part abt this article is that u hav used a lay man's language and not a high fundo flowery language .. too apealing ... if eny chuks u out u can definately apply for a new post for a writer at some place lol .. jokes apart i agree with ur views which hav been written in ur article dam true .. stil lets hope for the best .. and best of luck for all ur future artlcles i am sure ul rock again with ur next article ... hav fun and do keep writing .. |
a guest
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... Mr Multi talented - Dancer, Cricketer, Singer and now a Writer..!!! you have arrived SJ...! I think what you have written is in every Mumbai Indian fan's heart.... MI is lacking agression... MI needs is some young agressive players like Ross Taylor, Raina, etc .... Focus should not be on buying the most expensive player but on buying a valuable player... To be very frank I think kevin pollard was overpriced and I have my doubts on his performance in this IPL...Sachin is the best guy to lead the team in the current scenario...! Mumbai Indian aage badho hum tumhare saath hai - bhawik kamani |
a guest
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... Awesome write-up Saurabh bhai......did u take n e assistance from Harsha Bhogle or Ravi Shastri ;-)??...it seems like...kya mast likha hai bhidu....u have expressed what an actual Mumbai Indian wants to say....though we have a gr8 team.....we have not been able to convert it to victory......but I bet this time IPL 3 comes home .........MUMBAI. - Karan Dave |
a guest
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... My god can u write well o wat!!! Gud job ) n ur writin shows a gud amt of research.. hope the concerned r readin it too ) Gud effort All the best !!! |
a guest
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... Well Written Saurabh...im sure a lot of research and followup on the IPL events has gone into this...u seem to be a true Mumbai India fan my friend...or perhaps a true Sachin Tendulkar fan...  ...good luck.. Ravish |
Saurabh Joshi
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... @ pratik - Thanks a lot, the idea is try and keep it simple. thanks for th eencouraging words. @ Barkha - thanks .. god willing wll definately watch a match togather soon  @ Bhawik bhai - Thanks for your positive commnents....Completely agree with your thoughts....However, i think pollard will win a few games for us.. lets see where the support comes in from.... ) @Karan - Thanks for the encouragment.... Although i have serious doubts about the cup coming home...) @ Ravish - Well a MI fan and a Sachin fan for sure..... ) thanks for your positve comments..... i think you should read the other articles on the site too.. they are very intresting and a good read for a avid sports fan like you... cheers!!! @Reet - Madamme... thanks for reading and writing in must say was a pleasant surprise...and i definately hope the concerned people read this and more importantly since its directly hitting them dont abuse this piece ... cheers!! |
a guest
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... Good job Saurabh.. Congratulations for this new beginning ! I wish I too followed IPL and MI as closely as you have done. Contentwise, its good piece of work. You have successfully retained originality by using simple and lucid language. I have seen fewer artilces like yours in terms of clarity of view. I am sure that you will grow in this venture too. My best wishes.. Regards, Virat Choksi |
a guest
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... Good job Saurabh! I really hope Mumbai does well this season. looking forward to future posts! -Rishik |
a guest
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... Hey Saurabh, proud of u for turning into a good writer. Very good write-up & informative for non-cricket lovers like me.... I wonder how many faces u have........CA, dancer, musician, marathon runner, sportsman, writer & many more............. -Pankaj |
a guest
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... Speaks a true mumbai indian fan...... Sports is in ur blood mannn..... be it cricket.. soccer...tennis.. baddie....tt..... u know it all....And its gud to see this aspect of u as well.... keep writing..... am looking forward to an article on Liverpool next...... Shruti. |
a guest
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... To The Dark Knight, It was great to read your first article and I second the comment on you being a true MI fan and I guess a lot of that also comes from your attitude of being optimistic. Good flow, simple language, lot of facts and lots of heart. Great start for your writing career I especially liked the "Khadoos Cricket" concept. It just hits you "BHAM" - like Batman. I am sure there are many more gigs to follow this one and am looking forward to it. - Don PS: While I agree to everything you have written, no matter what anyone thinks or feels, heart in heart I still want/expect the Gladiator to slaughter the opponents |
a guest
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... Hey Saurabh, Good going...as ur first article....and well researched as too...keep me in loop for ur next article...and in my heart i hope u r wrong. |
a guest
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... Hey Saurabh, Good going as ur first article....and well researched as too...keep me in loop for ur next article...and in my heart i hope u r wrong. ......Kejal |
Kundan Singh
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... Hey Saurabh, Soild debut i have to say on the writing field, Mumbai Indian definetly had a better 2nd season and with Sachin in their midst they have a chance to perform better this year around. With the signing of Pollard this year around, they have got some firepower but my point is the hype and the artificial market that is created during the ipl auctions. Pollard has essentially been bought for his performance in the champions league, which were just a handful of games. We saw the same happening in IPL -1 when Ishant sharma was bought at a crazy price for his one spell to ponting in australia. There is no justification for the money being thrown around, if there was some of the aussie players who were up for auction would definetly been bought. Morgan who was bought by Bangalore royal challengers was one smart purchase. The tamasha is about 4 weeks away, if modi ever wants IPL to be true sporting event rather than entertainment he should limit the number of matches, spread them over a time period and let a real fan base grow. Cheers buddy keep it going. Kundan |
a guest
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... Congrats on the debut Mr.Joshi and I agree with you completely....We need the domestic players to fire and need a good middle order. But I still believe that with pollard coming in there is a good chance of winning games by simple brute hitting and little consistency is required....but like a true MI fan hoping we lift the cup this time around and I will definitely miss the north stand :-) ...have still got my money on MI....Kudos to you on your first article very well written...keep going Nikhil Bhatt |
a guest
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... Chintan says:- Well, one more achievement to your kitty. BINGO!!! Excellent show! Its really difficult to put your thoughts together and write an article, but I would say my dear friend, its very well written. Cheers! One thing I want to add here, which probably all of us would agree, that MI is definitely missing a TEAM SPIRIT. It seems each player is just showing his presence out there but not really going for the KILL. Once this atitude changes I am sure the Tycoon Team will definitely be well positioned to battle its way in the IPL FInals. |
a guest
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... Hi Jo, Nice work and good to see a author actually follow his gut instinct. Its not just about expressing one`s own individual view-point. As in this case "yours". But as to connect to each individual and express his own thought process while watching a MI match. And Mr. Saurabh, must say you`ve done well. My credits to you. It gives me immense pleasure to see you achieve this peak. Keep up the good work. God be king to you always. Chigs :-) |
Saurabh Joshi
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... @Rishik - Thanks a lot @ Pankaj kaka - Thanks a lot for the comments... feels good that you found a this piece a good read.... the idea is to get you following cricket @Virat bhai: Thanks a lot for your generous comments... |
Saurabh Joshi
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... @ Shruti: Thanks a lot ... well a true MI fan for sure and yeah the liverpool article will follow soon) @ Don : These were the most encouraging words i have received post my first piece... thanks for all the encouragement)...and believe me the gladiator shall definately do the slaughtering job... the team just need to respond to him) Cheers!! |
Saurabh Joshi
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... @ Kejal : My heart follows urs) @ Kundan: Thanks a lot for your encouraging words.... i cant agree more to you in terms of justification buying players..) Morgan was a super buy by RC. I think every edition of IPL has some drama ... hope tht cricket rules again) Cheers!! I think you should follow this site.. it has some very good articles.... @ Nikhil: Thanks.... i think putting money on MI is a risky affair ... havent we experienced it)) yeah man the we will miss the north stands too... esspecially with You and Topi both not being around...) @Chintan: Thanks for your good comments... just differ your views though... i think team spirit will come when the winning ways return)) @Chirag : Thanks chigs |
a guest
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... If this is jsut the beginning... you surely have a lot awaiting for you .... Carry on... its an excellent start!!!!! Best wishes with you for now & always. By way great cricket fan (read 'dumb') like me really uderstood this article.... Thanks for keeping it simple... -Bhavin |
a guest
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... Good one Saurabh.....Think Ambani would recover the returns on his investment anyhow; though not from winning cricket matches...Anyways, MI presently doesn't look like having the talent to win anyways...Infact, I was surprised to know that MI has won 8 games in total from last two seasons...Wasn't expecting even that...Good write-up boss. Sachin Maloo |
a guest
said:
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... Hey Sauarbh... Nicely done..agree with your comments on MI...although I might add at the risk of committing blasphemy..isn't it time for MI to stop relying on the GREAT ONE.....as the Indian cricket team has shown, when we have a good core of players we can defeat anyone.....Keep up the good work...Look forward to ur next article..Cheers Nisarg |
a guest
said:
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... havent taken any pain to read it but im sure it muzz b good ... cheers doug! .. way2go!!!! - MITTAL |
a guest
said:
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... Hey nice write up ! didnt know my senior was so talented with cricket,tennis,singing,dancing,writer ! Ghosh u have many career options bro !! ;-) -Punit M. |
a guest
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... Good job....so alternative career options..I think low increments by the big 4 is helping people find their hidden talents...  Khyati Desai |
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