IPL 2025, MI SWOT analysis: Can Hardik Pandya's Mumbai Indians turn the tide this time?

IPL 2025: This article reveals Mumbai Indians' challenges and opportunities lie ahead for the five-time IPL champions in their quest for record-breaking sixth triumph.

Image Credit: ANI

IPL 2025:Mumbai Indians will begin their quest for the record-breaking sixth IPL title against Chennai Super Kings in their opening match of the season at the Chepauk Stadium on March 23, Sunday. 

Mumbai Indians had a disappointing IPL season under the leadership of Hardik Pandya last year, as they failed to qualify for the playoffs after finishing at the bottom of the points table in the league stage. Ahead of the IPL 2025, Mumbai Indians retained their core players, including Hardik, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma while signing other players at the mega auction in November last year. 

With core players and fresh squad for the IPL 2025, can Hardik Pandya-led Mumbai Indians turn the tables around this time and remove the stains of their torrid season last year? Let’s analyse their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to determine MI’s chances of winning the title in IPL 2025. 

SWOT analysis of Mumbai Indians

Strengths 

Over the years, Mumbai Indians’ biggest strength lies in their batting line-up. In the upcoming season, the batting line-up consists of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, and Will Jacks. Rohit, who is an experienced campaigner and successful IPL captain, is expected to provide stability at the top-order with his aggressive approach. Suryakumar and Tilak have the ability to anchor the innings and accelerate the scoring rate when needed. Hardik and Will Jacks are expected to bring in their versatility and firepower in the middle-order, while providing the team with additional options. 

Another strength of Mumbai Indians is the pace bowling attack, including Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah and Reece Topley. Bumrah will miss the first few matches as he has yet to recover from injury. However, Deepak and Boult’s experience with the ball, along with MI’s depth in pace bowling, should help maintain the team’s balance in Bumrah’s absence. Once Bumrah returns to action, Mumbai Indians pace bowling attack will look formidable. Also, Deepak Chahal is abled batter who can score runs in the lower-order, alongside his bowling brilliance.

Weaknesses 

One of the weaknesses of Mumbai Indians is that they do not have depth in spin bowling attack. The only reliable spin bowler in the squad is Mitchell Santner. Karn Sharma and Mujeeb ur Rahman were added to the squad, but they lack consistency or might struggle to contain opposition’s flow of runs, especially spin-friendly pitches. The lack of spin bowling depth in the line-up, with Santner being the only reliable option, could hurt Mumbai Indians, particularly on slower tracks where spinners play a pivotal role in controlling the game.

Another weakness of MI, which has been persistent over the years, is their over-reliance on few players rather than a well-rounded squad. Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya have been of Mumbai Indians’ over the years, but the team had struggled when these players were out of form. Since Bumrah is out of action for the first few matches, the team’s bowling attack might lack the same level of threat to opposition’s batters, adding extra pressure on Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar to deliver in crucial situations.

Opportunities 

The upcoming season of the Indian Premier League is a big opportunity for Hardik Pandya to prove his worth as Mumbai Indians. After a setback in his debut IPL season as MI skipper, replacing Rohit Sharma at the helm, Hardik has a chance to redeem himself by leading the team with a fresh approach. Before leading Mumbai Indians in IPL 2024, the star all-rounder already had leadership experience in IPL as he captained Gujarat Titans to consecutive finals in 2022 and 2023, winning the former edition of the tournament. He failed to replicate captaincy success at Gujarat Titans with Mumbai Indians. In IPL 2025, Hardik Pandya will look to turn Mumbai Indians’ tide this time. 

Another opportunity for Mumbai Indians is to groom and nurture young players in the squad. The youngsters include Robin Minz, Raj Angad Bawa, Vignesh Puthur and a few others. Since MI management has the history of grooming and nurturing players in the previous season, the five-time IPL champions can identify the youngsters potential and give them valuable game time in order to get exposure to playing the cash-rich T20 league. This will help them develop match-winners, ensuring long-term success of the team.

Threats 

A major concern for Mumbai Indians is lack of depth in the line-up, especially spin bowling unit, and unsettled team combination ahead of the season. If Hardik Pandya struggles with his captaincy again or fails to deliver with the bat and ball, it could provide instability in the squad. Though Mumbai Indians fans are expected to back Hardik this time, given his crucial role in India’s T20 World Cup 2024 and Champions Trophy 2025 triumphs, his performance as both as leader and all-rounder will be under scrutiny. 

Another threat for Mumbai Indians is their inconsistent starts in the last five IPL seasons. After winning their fifth IPL title in 2020, MI have had an inconsistent run in the next editions of the tournament. IPL 2023, Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians were off to a slow start to the season before, picking up the momentum to qualify for the playoffs. If MI failed to pick up momentum early in the upcoming season, they might struggle to make it to the playoffs.