IPL 2019: 3 reasons why Mumbai Indians could struggle this year

The grand carnival of T20 Cricket, the Indian Premier League is here again. The 12th season of the competition is upon us and the eyes of the nations are on the event. Despite the event being held in the shadows of the World Cup, there is considerable excitement in cricket lovers for the tournament.

As always, Mumbai Indians come into the tournament as one of the heavy favorites to lift the trophy. The experience of the three-time Champions in winning the event, along with a strong core group of players; will always make them one of the biggest contenders to go all the way. A look at their squad this year will show that they are one of the most balanced teams in the competitions with a lot of quality players in the squad.

However, despite these factors, Rohit Sharma's team still has a few problems to worry about. Here are a few factors that could hamper Mumbai Indians' chance of success this year.

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#3 Dependency on aging players

Is Malinga still reliable?

In this season's auction, Mumbai Indians were one of the quiet teams in the room. Quite uncharacteristically, they did not make any major signings in the auction. Despite not reaching the playoff in 2018, the franchise surprisingly did not significantly change their team.

Their two biggest buys of the season were Yuvraj Singh and Lasith Malinga. It is no secret that both of them are in the twilight of their career. While Malinga is a prominent member of Sri Lanka's World Cup plans, it is quite clear that he is not going to feature for the entire competition.

His absence for the first six matches has already been confirmed and it is possible that he might not stay till the end too. Further, Malinga has had multiple injury problems over the last two years and is definitely not at the top of his game. While he has performed impressively since his return for Sri Lanka, he is not as reliable as a few years ago.

With the obvious risk of him breaking down at any time, the unavailability of Jason Behrendroff and injury to Adam Milne, this does not look like the smartest investment by Mumbai Indians.

The same can be said for Yuvraj Singh. In last year's IPL, he only scored 65 runs in eight matches. It was quite clear that the 37-year old looked completely out of sorts and not even a shadow of the player he once was. In fact, the Punjab all-rounder has never been at his best in this competition.

Despite playing for five different teams, Yuvraj's record of 2652 runs in 128 matches is not at all impressive for a player of his caliber. He has never scored more than 380 runs in a single season. Considering all these factors, it is hard to say that the left-hander will really improve the fortunes of the team.

The three-time Champions have also retained the services of Kieron Pollard. The swashbuckling West Indian is another player who looked past his prime last year. One of the most loyal players in the franchise history, Pollard only scored 133 runs in 9 matches last season.

While all three of them will add invaluable experience to the team, if they fail to improve their form, it could create a lot of problems for the team management.

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#2 The fitness of Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya

One of the biggest reasons behind Mumbai Indians being a team that is well-balanced is Hardik Pandya. The pace bowling all-rounder gained recognition playing for the franchise and since gone to become one of their best players and an integral member of India's limited overs set-up.

Pandya is someone who usually completes his quota of overs at a reasonable economy and more or less picks up a wicket or two. Also, his hard-hitting batting style makes him a dangerous player towards the end of the innings.

However, over the last few months, he has been troubled by various issues. While his suspension dominated headlines, the 25-year-old has faced severe fitness problems. After breaking down in the Asia Cup, Pandya was ruled out of action for three months due to a back injury.

The issue seemed to have re-emerged as he was not fit for the recent series against Australia. Quite clearly, he has played very less competitive cricket over the last six months. In such situations, there is always the risk of the player being rusty and not at the top of his game.

Also, with the World Cup approaching, the national team will have a close an eye on him and it is possible that he has to sit out a few matches. If Pandya is not playing at his best or unavailable for selection, it will severely hamper Mumbai's strength and depth.

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#3 Jasprit Bumrah cannot play all the games with the World Cup just around the corner

Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah is one of the biggest success stories of IPL in its 12-year journey. The right-arm pacer was picked up as an unknown from the domestic circuit by Mumbai Indians and has since then become a revelation.

With his slinging action, Bumrah has taken world cricket by storm and troubled the best of a batsman in all formats of the game. At the moment, he is arguably the best bowler in the world. Quite naturally, he is an integral part of the franchise's plans this season.

However, like with Pandya, the fact that this tournament is taking place just before the World Cup is a huge factor. It's no secret that in the game of cricket, the workload of fast bowlers requires more attention than others.

With the World Cup's grueling schedule, Bumrah playing an entire IPL campaign is the last thing Indian cricket needs. The expectation in the cricket fraternity is that the 25-year-old will be rested for a few games.

With the three-time champions already facing a problem with the availability of their foreign fast bowlers, if Bumrah can't play; it will significantly change the dimensions of their bowling attack.

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