Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma will lead the Mumbai Indians' charge as they aim for a record third IPL title Getty

Mumbai Indians (MI) have always been one of the big boys of the Indian Premier League (IPL) similar to Manchester United in the English Premier League. They have backed up that tag by winning the IPL trophy two times – 2013 and 2015 – and will go into the 2017 season as one of the favourites to reach the latter stages of the competition.

MI they did not have a good 2016 campaign as they finished in the fifth place. They have maintained the core of their squad going into the new campaign and bought only seven new players. Mitchell Johnson and Saurabh Tiwary return to their old stomping ground after spending time with Kings XI Punjab and Rising Pune Super Giants, respectively.

Coach: Mahela Jayawardene

Key players: Rohit Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga

Fixtures

06/04/17Thursday3.30pm BSTRising Pune Supergiants v Mumbai IndiansPune
09/04/17Sunday3:30pm BSTMumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight RidersMumbai
12/04/17Wednesday3.30pm BSTMumbai Indians v Sunrisers HyderabadMumbai
14/04/17Friday11:30am BSTRoyal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai IndiansBangalore
16/04/17Sunday11:30am BSTMumbai Indians v Gujarat LionsMumbai
20/04/17Thursday3:30pm BSTKings XI Punjab v Mumbai IndiansIndore
22/04/17Saturday3:30pm BSTMumbai Indians v Delhi DaredevilsMumbai
24/04/17Monday3:30pm BSTMumbai Indians v Rising Pune SupergiantsMumbai
29/04/17Saturday3:30pm BSTGujarat Lions v Mumbai IndiansRajkot
01/05/17Monday11:30am BSTMumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers BangaloreMumbai
06/05/17Saturday3:30pm BSTDelhi Daredevils v Mumbai IndiansDelhi
08/05/17Monday3:30pm BSTSunrisers Hyderabad v Mumbai IndiansHyderabad
11/05/17Thursday3:30pm BSTMumbai Indians v Kings XI PunjabMumbai
13/05/17Saturday3:30pm BSTKolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai IndiansKolkata

IPL History: MI have won the IPL title on two occasions in 2013 and 2015.

Squad

Players retained

Overseas: Kieron Pollard (West Indies), Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka), Lendl Simmons (West Indies), Mitchell McClenaghan (New Zealand), Jos Buttler (England), Tim Southee (New Zealand)

Indians: Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Gopal, R Vinay Kumar, Parthiv Patel, Nitish Rana, Siddhesh Dinesh Lad, J Suchith, Hardik Pandya, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Punia

Bought at auction ( Indian unless mentioned otherwise)

Mitchell Johnson (Australia), Nicolas Pooran (West Indies), Asela Gunaratne (Sri Lanka), Karn Sharma, Krishnappa Gowtham, Saurabh Tiwary, Kulwant Khejroliya

Prediction

The two-time champions are strong contender to make it to the latter stages of the competition.

Mumbai Indians