Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians is a cricket team in the Indian Premier League Season 2 - DLF IPL 2009 . The team is led by Sachin Tendulkar, who is also the Icon Player for the team. The team is coached by Lalchand Rajput, the former manager of the Indian Cricket Team and is owned by India's biggest conglomerate, Reliance Industries.


Owner - Reliance Industries Ltd

Home Ground - DY Patil Stadium, Wankhede Stadium

Captain - Sachin Tendulkar

Icon Player - Sachin Tendulkar

Coach - Lalchand Rajput

Team Value - US$ 111.9 million

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History

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) purchased the rights for the Mumbai franchise of Indian Premier league for a total of $111.9 million during the auction on January 24, 2008. The RIL bid has made the Mumbai Indians the most expensive franchise in IPL, and hence won the right to hold the semi-finals and the final in Mumbai. The team was unveiled on the 17th of April, 2008 in Mumbai.

2008 IPL season

The season got off to a nightmarish start for the Indians, having lost their captain Sachin Tendulkar to a hamstring injury. With Harbhajan Singh taking over as captain, the team proceeded to lose their first 4 matches of the tournament. After Singh’s suspension for hitting Sreesanth, Shaun Pollock assumed the leadership duties until Tendulkar’s return on 14 May. It was during this time that the team turned their fortunes around, putting together a 6 game winning streak and an opportunity to make the semi-finals. They were unable to take advantage of this opportunity as they lost 3 of their next 4 games, with the 3 losses occurring in very close affairs. The Indians finished with a record of 7 wins and 7 losses. Sanath Jayasuriya played a vital role in securing two important wins for the team.

2009 IPL season

During the IPL's first transfer window, The Indians acquired Zaheer Khan in exhange for Robin Uthappa. Jaydev Shah and Shikhar Dhawan were also added to the roster and Dwayne Smith, Dominic Thornely and Ashwell Prince were released from their contracts. Shaun Pollock decided not to return for the second season of IPL, however he kept an association with the franchise (most likely taking on a coaching or consultant role). At the player auction on February 6, 2009, the Mumbai Indians purchased J P Duminy for $950,000, Kyle Mills for $150,000 and Mohammad Ashraful for $75,000.