Name: Mumbai Indians
The Mumbai Indians are a franchise cricket team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). One of the eight founding members of the IPL in 2008, the Mumbai Indians are owned by India's biggest conglomerate, Reliance Industries through its subsidiary IndiaWin Sports.
The franchise is currently led by Hardik Pandya as captain and Mark Boucher as head coach. Ahead of the IPL season 2024, the MI management removed Rohit Sharma as captain and handed it over to Hardik Pandya. The team's home ground is the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, though they have played some home matches at the DY Patil Stadium and Brabourne Stadium as well.
On the field, the Mumbai Indians had a relatively slow start in the first few years of the IPL. Their best performance came in 2010 when they finished runners-up after losing to the Chennai Super Kings in the final.
It was not until 2013 that Mumbai Indians claimed their first IPL title, defeating Chennai Super Kings in a last-ball thriller. Rohit Sharma marshaled his troops brilliantly, well supported by contributions from the likes of Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Smith, Ambati Rayudu and Harbhajan Singh.
2015 saw the Mumbai Indians defend their IPL crown successfully, becoming only the second team after the Chennai Super Kings to win back-to-back titles. Lendl Simmons was the star of the tournament with a match-winning 68 in the final against Chennai.
The franchise's third IPL triumph came in 2017 when they outclassed Rising Pune Supergiant in the final. Captain Rohit Sharma led from the front while the tournament's leading run-scorer Krunal Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah were the other key performers.
In 2019, the Mumbai Indians rallied impressively in the second half after a sluggish start to win their 4th IPL title, beating Chennai Super Kings by 1 run in a dramatic final. Kieron Pollard and Jasprit Bumrah's heroics with bat and ball respectively were vital factors in the close win.
The team's fifth IPL championship came in 2020 when the entire season was held across venues in the UAE due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite missing their home advantage, the Mumbai Indians showed tremendous consistency, with Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav leading from the front.
Overall in their 15 IPL seasons so far, the Mumbai Indians have won a record 5 titles (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020), appeared in 6 finals, and qualified for the playoffs 9 times - the most by any team.
Off the field, the Mumbai Indians franchise is currently valued at $92.6 million according to recent estimates, making them the fifth most valuable franchise globally across any sporting league.
The team owners at Reliance have invested substantially in creating top infrastructure and support facilities for players at their privately owned Reliance Cricket Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The state-of-the-art training center has been utilized by the Indian national team as well on many occasions.
In terms of brand value, the Mumbai Indians are among the most followed teams on social media globally, with over 29 million fans across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Several leading Indian and global brands have associated with the franchise as official partners over the years.
