Mumbai Indians, led by the inspirational captaincy of Rohit Sharma, won the IPL 2020 title and it was their fifth IPL triumph.
Mumbai Indians reaffirmed their status as the best Twenty20 side in the world as they defeated Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2020 final by five wickets to win the trophy for the fifth time. Rohit Sharma’s inspirational captaincy worked wonders as he won his sixth IPL title, having earlier won in IPL 2009 as a player for Deccan Chargers. With two Champions League T20 titles and five IPL titles as captain, Mumbai Indians and Rohit Sharma have once again proven that they are the team to beat in the IPL. In 2020, another box was ticked by Mumbai Indians as they became the second team after Chennai Super Kings to defend their title.
What has made Mumbai Indians such a potent side in Twenty20 cricket and IPL? The answer might lie in the depth that they possess in both the batting and bowling. In every situation, Mumbai Indians had back-up. If one batsman failed, there was another who would step up. In the bowling, there was the presence of a dynamic duo who continuously took wickets and created breakthroughs at vital points in time.
Superb batting depth
When one looks at the batting charts of IPL 2020, Mumbai Indians have three players who have scored over 500 runs in the tournament. Quinton de Kock was simply sublime at the top with 503 runs at an average of 35 and a strike-rate of 140. Ishan Kishan, who became the first uncapped player to smash 500 runs in a single edition of the tournament, averaged 57 and had a strike-rate of 145 while Suryakumar Yadav, who played many match-winning knocks for Mumbai Indians, also had a strike-rate of 145.
A simple glance at the table shows that Mumbai Indians’ middle order had an average strike-rate of 140 and that is the best among all the teams combined. Even Royal Challengers Bangalore have three players in the top 10 list of batsmen but barring AB de Villiers, the strike-rates of Virat Kohi and Devdutt Padikkal are just over 120.
What made Mumbai Indians’ batting was even more potent was the lower middle order. Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard used to smash the bowling in the death overs in such a away that it would change the momentum. In Qualifier 1, Hardik Pandya smashed 37 off 14 balls and Mumbai Indians hit 55 runs in the last three overs against Delhi Capitals. Against Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians hit 95 runs in the last five overs. Scoring at a run-rate of 12-15 on a consistent basis was the key in Mumbai Indians intimidating opposition bowlers.
Deadly bowlers duo
But, Mumbai Indians were the X-factor side because of the ‘B team’. Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult were simply outstanding, with Bumrah taking 27 wickets and Boult ending up with 25 wickets. The duo’s combination of 52 wickets was the first time ever that a bowling duo of the same team had picked up more than 50 wickets in one edition of the tournament. If Bumrah does not get you, Boult will. Classic case, IPL 2020 final. Bumrah ended up wicketless, but Boult picked three wickets, including two in the powerplay from which Delhi Capitals never fully recovered. The New Zealand pacer battled injury, but yet won the Man of the Match award.
In the list of bowlers, Mumbai Indians have three bowlers in the top 15, with Rahul Chahar also operating exceptionally with 15 wickets at an average of 28. In the other teams, there are only two bowlers from each side who feature in the top 15 but Boult and Bumrah’s average of under 20 makes their statistics stand out.
Magnificent bowling, depth in batting and brilliant captaincy. These three factors helped Mumbai Indians dominate in grand style. The end result – A fifth IPL title for the franchise and sixth title for Rohit Sharma.
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 "Mumbai Indians IPL 2020 title")
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