The BCCI launched the Indian Premier League in 2008 with the aim of developing Indian cricket both physically and financially. The inaugural IPL star auction in 2008 was a new sight for cricket fans. Who will actually own Sachin Tendulkar was a promising question. Tendulkar then acquired the Mumbai Indians franchise owned by Reliance owner Mukesh Ambani. In other words, the franchise from Tendulkar’s hometown has taken over Tendulkar himself. With that single signing, a good number of Indian cricket fans became Mumbai Indians fans. Tendulkar was named captain of Mumbai Indians. Under Tendulkar’s captaincy, a huge number of stars lined up. The Mumbai Indians have high hopes for the fans.
Sachin Tendulkar and South African batsman Loots Bosman were the openers. Then there is the batting line-up, which includes Sri Lankan cricket legend Sanath Jayasuriya, South Africa’s Ashwell Prince, Australia’s Dominic Thornely and then – young sensation Robin Uthappa. Apart from them, a batting line-up of youngsters Ajinkya Rahane, Saurabh Tiwary, Manish Pandey, Ankeet Chavan, Siddharth Chitnis, Rohan Raje, Yogesh Takawale and Vikrant Yeligatti were in the squad. Therefore, the Mumbai batting line-up is stellar. New Zealand wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi was also in the Mumbai line-up to boost the batting rate.
Mumbai also have a rich array of all-rounders who can add strength to the team’s bowling and batting. West Indies all-rounders Dwayne Bravo and Dwayne Smith were the team’s power hitters. Then, the South African legend Shaun Pollock was with Mumbai Indians. Apart from the senior categories, the young Indian all-rounders also helped Mumbai. Mumbai have high hopes for young Indian all-rounders Abhishek Nair and Gaurav Dhiman.
Judging by the Mumbai Indians’ bowling department in 2008, Mumbai had an impressive selection of senior Indian players. Harbhajan Singh was responsible for the spin bowling. Rajesh Pawar and Swapnil Singh were the other spinners in the spin department headed by Harbhajan Singh. Mumbai’s fast bowling department was full of senior Indian and Sri Lankan players. At that time, the Mumbai fast bowling department was headed by Ashish Nehra, India’s best fast bowler, and Lasith Malinga, the legendary Sri Lankan. They were joined by young Indian Dhawal Kulkarni, Sri Lanka’s Dilhara Fernando and South Africa’s Andre Nell.Each franchise was allowed by the IPL Council to include 11 foreign players in a team. At that time, players from all over the world, including Pakistani players, were available for the IPL star auction. However, the Mumbai Indians won four players from South Africa, three from Sri Lanka, two from the West Indies and one each from New Zealand and Australia. Foreign batsmen Loots Bosman and Ashwell Prince of South Africa, Dominic Thornely of Australia were named in the Mumbai Indians squad. The list of all-rounders for foreign players is huge. The Mumbai Indians’ all-rounders were Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka, Dwayne Bravo and Dwayne Smith of the West Indies, Shaun Pollock of South Africa. In the bowling department, Sri Lankans Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando and South Africa’s Andre Nell lined up for the Mumbai Indians. New Zealand wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi was the team’s leading wicket – keeper.
The Mumbai Indians have brought a lot of players to the team with high hopes, but while some players have lived up to their expectations, others have faded. In the first IPL season, Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka was the Mumbai Indians’ top scorer. Sanath Jayasuriya scored 514 runs in 14 matches at an average of 42.83, including one century and two fifties. Jayasuriya finished third in the list of top scorers in the tournament. The fact that no other batsman was able to make a big impact in the tournament also affected the performance of the Mumbai Indians in that season. Robin Uthappa, who scored 320 runs in 14 matches, was the second highest run – scorer for the Mumbai Indians. In terms of bowlers, the performance of the Mumbai Indians bowlers was disappointing. Ashish Nehra was the leading wicket-taker for the Mumbai Indians, taking 12 wickets in 14 matches. Bravo and Kulkarni, who took 11 wickets each, were second behind Nehra.
Mumbai Indians squad (2008) : SR Tendulkar, ST Jayasuriya, L Ronchi, DJ Thornely, RV Uthappa, PR Shah, AM Nayar, SM Pollock, Harbhajan Singh, MA Khote,A Nehra, DS Kulkarni, DJ Bravo, VS Yeligati, SS Tiwary, AM Rahane, SD Chitnis, MK Pandey, CRD Fernando, YV Takawale, RR Raje, RV Pawar, DR Smith, A Nel