The Stats Behind the Rise and Rise of Mumbai Indians in IPL 2020:

Defending champions Mumbai Indians owned by India's biggest conglomerate, Reliance Industries became the first team to qualify for IPL 2020 Playoffs. They finished the league stage with 18 points at the top of the IPL Standings.

In spite of Rohit Sharma being out of touch and his absence due to injury, Mumbai Indians have been sailing smoothly, as stand-in skipper and senior all-rounder Kieron Pollard has been impressive as the captain of the franchise. 

The 4-time champions had an unfortunate start to their campaign as Chennai Super Kings defeated them by 5 wickets, to hand them their 7th consecutive loss in the opening match. But since, MI have been on a roll except for a few hiccups in the form of super over losses.

After the first game, the most successful side in the history of the IPL won 7 out of the next 9 games. The losses came in super overs against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Dubai and later against Kings Xi Punjab, when the two teams played 2 super overs, as the first super over ended in a tie. Between the two super over losses, Mumbai was on a winning streak of 5 matches. 

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Against the Rajasthan Royals, the franchise was outplayed by a Ben Stokes masterclass, as the English all-rounder scored a century but normal services resumed against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, as MI won the match by 5 wickets.

One of the major factors for MI's consistency has been the current IPL Purple Cap holder Jasprit Bumrah, the key member of Team India squad for Australia too. Indian cricket fans would be delighted as the tournament has progressed, so has the accuracy and pace of the Ahmedabadian spearhead. He has 23 wickets now, even though he was slow off the blocks to begin the IPL 2020.

Bharat Army takes a look at 5 key stats of the Mumbai Indians which defines their consistency: 

5. MI have played the fewest players- 13

Over the years, one thing that has defined MI is how they have backed their players in spite of their poor performances at times. This season as well, Mumbai Indians have played only 13 players. 

Only 9 players have played all the 12 matches so far. They started the season with Saurabh Tiwary as their No. 4 batsman and Ishan Kishan was benched but as Tiwary got injured in the 3rd match of the season, Kishan made his way into the side. Later in the tournament, as Rohit Sharma got injured, Tiwary was re-included in the side. 

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The other players who haven't played all the matches are James Pattinson and Nathan Coulter Nile. Pattinson played the first half of the season for MI, and later was replaced by NCN as part of workload management. In the last 2 matches, Pattinson has made his way back into the XI. 

Overall, MI hasn't tinkered with their players in this season and the strategy has been evidently successful. 

4. Mumbai Indians have lost the fewest wickets- 64

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One of the major strengths of the Mumbai Indians has been their long batting order but this season it hasn't been needed at times. Mumbai not only have the depth but also the quality of players and they have just lost 64 wickets in league stages which has been the fewest among all the 8 teams. 

3) Best Strike rate- 148 SR

Mumbai Indians have not only batted cautiously but kept their scoring rate steady as well. Quinton De Kock and Rohit Sharma have given consistent starts, and Suryakumar Yadav has steadied the same as he has a strike rate of 153 in IPL 2020.

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The Pandya brothers and Kieron Pollard have characteristically bolstered the run-rate with their power-hitting prowess. 

2) While chasing MI have not lost in regular time- 1 tie, 4 wins

Analysing the phase-wise scoring rate, MI have been impressively methodical in the middle overs as well as the death overs, where they have the best run rate in the league. Especially when they know their target.

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1) No team has ever topped the league stages for 2 consecutive years

Mumbai Indians is not just the only team to have lifted the IPL trophy four times, but they also became the first IPL Team ever to top the IPL Standings for 2 consecutive years! 

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