Mumbai: From the maidaans to the streets, the DNA of every cricket game is to Play Like Mumbai. That entertaining brand of cricket, the fight, the grit, the refusal to throw in the towel,
is something we’ve seen in abundance over the last seventeen seasons of the IPL, and was on full display as the Mumbai Indians stormed to win their second WPL title.
“I told the girls they set a very nice example which the men’s team now has to follow,” said Hardik Pandya at the pre-season press conference ahead of IPL 2025 in Mumbai.
Mahela Jayawardene, Mumbai Indians’ Head Coach, spoke about creating that mentality within the team. “Creating a winning mentality is important. That toughness (is important),” he said.
“Last season threw us some challenges. But it’s been a big auction. There have been a lot of changes. With that we’ve got a fresh canvas to start and paint our own destiny. We have the core group with us who have the experience and know what the culture is, how we need to play and win,” Jayawardene said.
“With the new group of guys, which includes some old faces coming back like Trent (Boult), which was a big part in our success in 2020. For us, it is about putting this puzzle together, making sure we gel well as a group, understanding our strengths and having a good start. I was reminded few days ago that we haven’t won our first game since 2012. Both of us, including Surya, who’s going to lead us in the first game, have a big challenge ahead of us to try and overcome that,” he said.
It’s the year after a mega auction, Mumbai Indians have retained their core of players, and showed a pretty clear sign of going after experience in the Auction. Jayawardene threw light on the strategy.
“We pride on our core group. That’s been the reason for our success for many years. It’s not easy to win an IPL trophy. Mumbai Indians has been successful in delivering that. Each year, the challenge is for us to set ourselves up for that. We have added more experience this year to the core group. That was something planned that we wanted to achieve. We have seven guys in our main squad who’ve won IPL trophies with difrerent franchises as well. As a coach, I am trying to get that structure in place and get the best out of them,” he said.
What’s unique about the Mumbai Indians is the presence of four Indian skippers in Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah apart from Hardik, on the field.
Hardik knows he’ll always have multiple brains to pick from and multiple shoulders to lean on through a game.
“I am lucky that I have three captains playing with me. It adds more and more experience for me. I know when I require help, there are three different minds who have led India in different formats and with so many years of experience who are always there to put their arm around my shoulder and be there for me,” he said.
Mumbai Indians play two games on the road, against Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Giants, before coming home to the Wankhede Stadium to play their first home game, against the Kolkata Knight Riders. Hardik has a message for the loyal Mumbai Indians army, the Paltan.
“Iss baar koi aur colour nahi dikhna chahiye (No other colour should be seen this year). Just make noise. When I come out to bat, bowl, at the toss, just make noise.”
Be assured, the decibels are set to go off the roof at the Wankhede. The eighteenth season of the Indian Premier League begins on March 22 in Kolkata, and the Mumbai Indians are set to play their first game on March 23, in Chennai.
