MUMBAI INDIANS CONFIDENT UNDER SACHIN TO WIN IPL4

New Delhi: By the beginning of 2008, Mukesh Ambani was the richest Indian in the Forbes list, he owned one of the enviest houses on one of the costliest cities on earth and by the end of the first month of that year, he also owned the mightiest players in the game of cricket too.

Ambani's Reliance India Limited-owned Mumbai Indians comprised of Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Shaun Pollock, Harbhajan Singh, Andre Nel and the list went on.

It was a dream team by every means. The very sight of Sachin Tendulkar and Jayasuriya walking in to open the batting could intimidate even the most potent attacks. So it was no surprise when this team turned out to be the most watched team on television in the first edition of the IPL, accumulating almost 239 million viewers. But that dream team never marched into the realms of reality and what remained was desire of a kingdom that could have been theirs. Sachin was out of action for the first half of the inaugural season with a hamstring injury and when he returned, it was a tad too late.

Although Jayasurya and Pollock showed flashes of genius, individuals were not enough to pull the team through and Mumbai Indians failed to qualify for the semi-finals.

The 2009 edition was poorer and five wins in 12 games meant they ended second from below.

But 2010 brought a change of fortunes. Sublime Sachin, class personified, turned out to be team's wonder boy. He amassed 618 runs with a strike rate of 132.61 and the rest fell in place as the master gave his followers a sense of deja vu with repeated comparisons being drawn to his Sharjah and World Cup heroics.

The team sailed to the finals with spirited performances from Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo as well. But a mockery of a decision to hold back Pollard and inability to provide support to Sachin's lone fight cost the team badly and the trophy slipped from a sniffing distance in the final against Chennai Super Kings.

This edition should be the time to bury the ghosts of past mishaps. But the loss of important players like Jayasuriya, Bravo, Saurabh Tiwary, Jean Paul Duminy and Zaheer Khan might be hard to cope with.

However, there's freshness in the air. The burly Aussie all-rounder Andrew Symonds - though out of international cricket- is still good enough to make cold blood run down the spine of the oppositions.

The batting will revolve around Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, newly bought Aiden Blizzard, promising domestic players and a bunch of all-rounders.

The Mumbai bowling has Lasith Malinga, Munaf Patel, Clint Mckay and Harbhajan Singh. Going through the list, if you thought this barrel was insufficient for mass consumption, think again!

Move your eyes over their list of all-rounders. This team revels in its versatility. James Franklin, Moise Henriques, Symonds, Pollard, etc. can bat and bowl with equal ease while the likes of Rayudu and South African recruit David Jacobs are equally efficient both in front of the wicket and behind it.

So if all goes as per plans of the Mumbai Indians' think-tank, they could be the team to be wary of in season four.

Squad:

Sachin Tendulkar (c), Harbhajan Singh, Rohit Sharma, Munaf Patel, Abu Nechim Ahmed, Aditya Tare, Ali Murtuza, Ambati Rayudu, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pawan Suyal, Rajagopal Sathish, Surul Kanwar, Surya Kumar Yadav, T Suman, Yazvendra Singh Chahal, (Foreign) Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Andrew Symonds, Davy Jacobs, James Franklin, Moises Henriques, Alden Blizzard, Dilhara Fernando