What is the secret of Mumbai Indians’ dominance in IPL?

Mumbai Indians put on a clinical display against Delhi Capitals in IPL 2020 Qualifier 1 on Thursday as they registered a brilliant 57-run win to enter the final. This was the sixth time that they have reached the final of this tournament. In five previous finals, they have lost only once and that was in IPL 2010 to Chennai Super Kings. In IPL 2020, the depth in batting and bowling makes Rohit Sharma's Mumbai Indians favorites to win the Indian Premier League title for a record fifth time. After the match, Rohit Sharma said that it was the “perfect result” for the side.

What is the secret behind Mumbai Indians’ dominance in IPL 2020 and what makes them THE team to beat? On all departments, they have their bases covered. When one looks at their five losses in the league games, two were in the Super Over. Here is an explainer on Mumbai Indians’ dominance and it involves a tag team effort

Solid middle and lower order

If one looks at the Orange Cap list of most run-getters, most of the batsmen are openers. Be it KL Rahul, David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan, Quinton de Kock and Shubman Gill, all these batsmen have accumulated the runs at the top of the order. However, for the teams involved in the playoffs, the middle order has been slightly dodgy with the exception of possibly Royal Challengers Bangalore and of course Mumbai Indians.

Mumbai Indians are the only team to have two of their middle order batsmen in the top 10 run-getters list. Ishan Kishan has been outstanding this season for Mumbai Indians, averaging 53 with a strike rate of 144. But, the real standout has been Suryakumar Yadav, who has hit fifties at crucial times to guide the team over the line. Suryakumar Yadav averages 48 and has a strike-rate close to 150. The combination of Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav is what makes Mumbai Indians’ middle-order formidable.

In case both Suryakumar and Ishan Kishan stumble, they have the buffer of Kieron Pollard and the Pandya brothers to take the game away in the death overs with the bat. In one game against Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians slammed 62 in three overs thanks to Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya’s assault. In another game, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar blasted 51 runs in the final three overs against Rajasthan Royals. In Qualifier 1, Hardik Pandya hit 37 off 14 balls and Mumbai Indians hit 55 runs in the last three overs to take the game away from Delhi Capitals.

The buffer that Mumbai Indians have when it comes to power hitting and aggression in the middle and lower order is what seperates them from the rest. It is this buffer that has allowed Rohit Sharma’s poor returns in IPL 2020 to be forgotten.

Boult and Bumrah’s brilliance

If Jasprit Bumrah does not get you, Trent Boult will. The opening and death bowling combination of Mumbai Indians is perhaps the best in the business. Bumrah and Boult have taken 49 wickets as a duo in IPL 2020, with Bumrah’s haul of 27 wickets being the most by an Indian bowler in a single edition of the IPL. Bumrah’s economy rate of 6.71 puts him in a different league.

Boult has an economy rate of eight but his strike-rate is 14.54 which is the third best among bowlers who have taken 15 wickets in this tournament. Bumrah’s dual brilliance of 6.71 economy rate and strike-rate of 12.44 has made former England skipper Michael Vaughan state that Bumrah is the best bowler in the world currently.

The fact that Mumbai Indians operate in pairs makes them a potent team. The captaincy of Rohit Sharma, in utilizing Jasprit Bumrah brilliantly at the start, in the middle overs and in the death is the key behind Mumbai Indians success. The fact that nine out of 11 members are contributing and are not reliant heavily on one person is the prime reason why Mumbai Indians are dominating the IPL.