Mumbai Indians - Team Preview

Performance in IPL 2008

Mumbai had a disastrous start, losing their first four games to Bangalore, Chennai, Punjab and Hyderabad but bounced back remarkably well before ultimately failing to make it to the semi-finals.

After four successive defeats, Mumbai won their next six games on the trot - the best streak of the tournament- as they appeared to peak at just the right time.

Mumbai will rue their 1-run defeat to Punjab since it not only ended their winning streak but also their hopes of a semi-final berth as the team seem to lose momentum. Two more defeats followed before Mumbai beat lowly Bangalore to finish in fifth position.

Who's in, who's out

Mumbai shopped for South African sensation Jean-Paul Duminy in this year's auction and splashed out an eye-popping USD 950,000 to acquire the stylish southpaw.

New Zealander Kyle Mills (USD 150,000) and Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful (USD 75,000) were part of their signings.

Mumbai was also involved in two swaps, trading Robin Uthappa for Zaheer Khan with Bangalore and Shikhar Dhawan for Ashish Nehra with Delhi. Jaydev Shah was also added to the roster while Dwayne Smith, Dominic Thornely and Ashwell Prince were released from their contracts. Shaun Pollock will not return as a player after taking up the role of the coach.

Mumbai also signed Graham Napier and Ryan McLaren, both prolific all-rounders in the English Twenty20 competition.

Players to watch out for

Sachin Tendulkar: Sachin Tendulkar is loved the world over and will be cynosure of all eyes in South Africa as well. He missed the inital games last season but is expected to be available for the entire duration this time around. Not only has he been among the runs for India, he has amassed his runs in a manner which reminds us of the Tendulkar of the nineties. Tendulkar on song will be vital to Mumbai's success.

Graham Napier: The cricket world stood up and took notice of Napier's talent after he blasted a 52-ball 158 for Essex in a Twenty20 game. He scored runs heavily and quickly last season and is a decent medium pacer, capable of bowling the yorkers in the death overs.

Zaheer Khan: Zaheer Khan has led the Indian attack superbly in all conditions in recent times. Zaheer will enjoy the conditions in South Africa and his recent form suggests that batsmen will find it difficult against him.

Shikhar Dhawan: Dhawan scored consistently for Delhi, notching up four fifties in last year's IPL and Mumbai will be hoping he picks up from where he left off. A batsman in the classical mould with shots all around the wicket, Dhawan is the ideal number three.

Trivia

Dhawal Kulkarni of Mumbai bowled 3 wides in a row in his last over against Chennai, thus becoming the first bowler to have such a dubious record.

Sanath Jayasuriya of Mumbai Indians, the oldest player in the IPL, holds the record for the most sixes - 31.

Sanath Jayasuriya hit more fours than anyone else in the IPL. He hit a total of 57 boundaries.

Mumbai won their match at home against the Kolkata with a staggering 87 balls to spare, the highest margin in terms of balls remaining in IPL 2008.

Mumbai Indians used as many as three captains - Shaun Pollock, Harbhajan Singh and Sachin Tendulkar - in the 14 games they played.

Tendulkar holds the record for the most number of catches in an IPL match with 4 catches in the match between the Mumbai Indians and the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Harbhajan slapped Sreesanth after Mumbai lost to Kings XI Punjab in a tense game following which Harbhajan was banned from the remainder of the tournament.

5 of the Mumbai Indians batsmen got run out in the game against the KKR. This is a record of a sorts for the IPL.

Current Squad

Sachin Tendulkar, Dwayne Bravo (WI), Shikhar Dhawan, Jean-Paul Duminy (SA), Harbhajan Singh, Dilhara Fernando (SL), Sanath Jayasuriya (SL), Zaheer Khan, Ryan McLaren (SA), Dhawal Kulkarni, Lasith Malinga (SL), Kyle Mills (NZ), Graham Napier (ENG), Chetanya Nanda, Mohammad Ashraful (B'desh), Abhishek Nayar, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohan Raje, Luke Ronchi (AUS), Jaydev Shah, Pinal Shah, Rahil Shaikh, Yogesh Takawale, Saurabh Tiwary

Coaches

Head Coach: Shaun Pollock (SA)

Assistant Head Coach: Pravin Amre

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D-Day today for England - West Indies

TODAY COULD BE make or break for the final One-Day-International cricket match between England and the West Indies in St Lucia on Friday.

It could also be an indicator as to what direction the future relationship between regional players and cricket administrators will take.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) will hold crisis talks today to try and end the deadlock that threatens to lead to a boycott of the encounter at the Beausejour Cricket Ground.

WIPA president Dinanath Ramnarine is expected to lead a delegation to meet WICB president Julian Hunte and his representatives in St Lucia to try and save this weekend's match.

The impasse has already seen regional first-class players go on strike, leading to the cancellation ten days ago of some 11th-round matches in the WICB's four-day competition.

WIPA has a long list of concerns with the way the WICB governs cricket in the region, including the contention that the board usually makes decisions without consulting the union as had been previously agreed between the two bodies.

While Ramnarine has declined to make any public statements, West Indies captain Chris Gayle and allrounder Dwayne Bravo have spoken of their frustrations. Last week Gayle rebuked the WICB, urging the body to get its house in order in its dealings with the players. He also hinted at a possible players' strike of Friday's game.

Gayle and Bravo are among five regional players who have signed on to the lucrative 2009 Indian Premier League (IPL), a tournament which clashes with the team's tour of England in May. This conflict is among the topics which are expected to be on today's agenda

Failed to consult

Bravo said yesterday the WICB had failed to consult WIPA when agreeing to the tour of England starting in May. Ironically, the West Indies replaced Sri Lanka on the tour because its board opted out of the series to allow its players to take part in the IPL.

"The WICB went on and signed that tour without letting WIPA know anything about the tour," Bravo said. "We signed our contract to go and represent our IPL team, now we are in a position where we have to choose whether to go and play IPL for the first six weeks or go to England. It is a tricky situation."

Bravo also rejected suggestions that the players were unaware of all the issues in their dispute with the WICB and had not been privy to relevant information from Ramnarine.

"[He] lets us know everything that is taking place so we are fully aware of everything that is going on in the meetings," Bravo said.

He added: "We are fully aware of what the WICB owes us. We know everything. We are never short of information. Whenever issues come up, the first person Ramnarine contacts is Chris [Gayle]; Chris calls a meeting, and lets the players know what is going on and we the players come up as a team, and make a decision on what we would like Ramnarine to go forward with."

Bravo also dismissed claims that the WIPA was only looking out for the benefit of the international players, and not for the all first-class players in the region.

"That doesn't have any truth in it at all!" he said. "Whenever we meet as a team, and whenever Ramnarine comes and talks with us, our main issue is about the first-class players.

"He keeps stressing on the first-class players, not too much on us, because we have it better off than the first-class players. Ramnarine is the only one who got first-class fees raised after so many years," he said.

Bravo asserted that the players were not greedy, but wondered what was wrong with them wanting a better deal.

He asked: "So why does a bank manager go to work every day? Why does a teacher go to work everyday? Why she don't just go and teach and don't study about money?"

Bravo added: "It's not only us complaining about money. You see teachers protest for salaries; you see people protest because of shortage of salary. . .

"But we have to understand and accept that the way how life is going, and the way how cricket is going now, it is more a business.

"It is still a sport, but there is a lot of business, there is a lot of money floating around. Players see opportunity where they could make other income. I don't see any problem with it."

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