Saidutt Kamat – Cricket Commentator and Analyst

Mumbai Indians are not only the defending champions of IPL 11.It’s also a most successful IPL side till date as well.Hitman of team India Rohit Sharma leading them very well since last many years and this time also it’s going to be interesting to find out how they proceed under Rohit’s captaincy.Right from the first season of IPL,MI is always rated top side by experts but they managed to win their first IPL title in 2013 when they managed to beat Chennai Super Kings in final at Eden Gardens,Kolkata and 2 years later in 2015 also the story was not different.Last year during IPL 10,team in blue won their 3rd IPL trophy by emerging as most successful side in history of the Indian Premier League but there are some facts & statastics which will upset MI fans and the main reason is slow start in most of the seasons.As IPL 11 started,Mumbai Indians lost their opening match against team in yellow Chennai Super Kings and they played 2 more matches in the first week of IPL 11 but failed to cross the winning line.Most important part is they lost all 3 contests which were absolutely thriller and last over finish.In first week Mumbai Indians played against Chennai Super Kings,Sunrisers Hydrabad and Delhi Daredevills but failed to register their victory in all 3 matches they played.Not only this year but how many times we have seen them losing their first game of the tournament and coming back strongly to be part of Play-off so as far as their fans are concerned they won’t mind losing the game on higher note as they have proved themselves strong contender each and every time even after a slower start but as far as captain and entire team managenent is concerned they will obviously like to note their key mistakes so that things won’t go wrong as this season of IPL progresses.In 2015,Mumbai Indians  were almost out of the tourmament as it was looking very difficult for them with each single game was like ‘do or die’ situation when they only had 5 matches to play and they were ranked 2nd last in points table but they managed to qualify for play-off with bang,through to final at Eden Gardens and once again repeated the same story from 2013 IPL final as they defeated Chennai Super Kings to become champions for the 2nd time.In last season also most of the matches were heart breaking for them and still they won their 3rd IPL title so it will be difficult to judge Rohit Sharma and boys at early stage because their successful IPL story is of unique kind.