Mumbai Indians (MI) have done what they do best: beginning the season terribly and somehow managing to make their way back to the Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs.
After not qualifying for the playoffs in their previous two seasons, MI won eight of their final 12 IPL games to finish in fourth place and qualify for the Eliminator which will be played today against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
Although there were a lot of naysayers who undermined MI's chances of making it to the playoffs, raising eyebrows at a bowling lineup that wouldn't have spearhead Jasprit Bumrah available and an imbalanced batting lineup, MI rose against the odds and cleverly compensated for their shortcomings by maximising their strengths.
This season, they chased down a target in excess of 200 four times, the most by any side in a single IPL season. Out of the eight games that MI won, six of those came in run chases, which shows just how dominant they were during run chases.
They batted second nine times this season, losing just thrice. And, four of those victories came at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Indians' home ground. They lost just once in a run chase at the Wankhede, a gut-wrenching 13-run defeat against Punjab Kings (PBKS). Ideally, MI should have won that game.
That begs the question, are Mumbai Indians' batsmen in some sort of a 'comfort zone' at the Wankhede? To put things into perspective, they won five games at the Wankhede and lost just two. In all five wins, the batsmen were pretty dominant.
With no game of the playoffs stage set to take place at the Wankhede Stadium, will MI batsmen struggle, especially if they bat first?
Here we take a look at MI's batting numbers this season.
MORE: Bet on LSG vs MI and all IPL 2023 matches here
Mumbai Indians' record at Wankhede Stadium in IPL 2023
| Opponent | Away team score | Away team run rate | MI score | MI run rate | Result | MI top scorer |
| Chennai Super Kings | 159-3 (18.1) | 8.75 | 157-8 (20) | 7.85 | Lost by 7 wickets | Ishan Kishan (32 off 21) |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 185-6 (20) | 9.25 | 186-5 (17.4) | 10.53 | Won by 5 wickets | Ishan Kishan (58 off 25) |
| Punjab Kings | 214-8 (20) | 10.70 | 201-6 (20) | 10.05 | Lost by 13 runs | Cameron Green (67 off 43) |
| Rajasthan Royals | 212-7 (20) | 10.60 | 214-4 (19.3) | 10.97 | Won by 6 wickets | Suryakumar Yadav (55 off 29) |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore | 199-6 (20) | 9.95 | 200-4 (16.3) | 12.12 | Won by 6 wickets | Suryakumar Yadav (83 off 35) |
| Gujarat Titans | 191-8 (20) | 9.55 | 218-5 (20) | 10.90 | Won by 27 runs | Suryakumar Yadav (103* off 49) |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | 200-5 (20) | 10.00 | 201-2 (18) | 11.17 | Won by 8 wickets | Cameron Green (100* off 47) |
As you can see in the table above, MI have managed to restrict the opposition under a score of 200 just twice in seven games, while they've managed to score over 200 in five games. It also wouldn't be outrageous to state that they would've chased a total in excess of 200 against KKR given they chased down 186 with 14 balls to spare.
The 'MI top scorer' column indicates that in seven Wankhede games, one of Ishan Kishan, Cameron Green, or Suryakumar Yadav were MI's top scorer. These three have mostly played at or above No. 5. Coincidentally, Kishan, Green, and SKY are MI's top three run-getters this season with 439, 389, and 511 runs respectively.
Batting stats of MI's top three run-getters at Wankhede in IPL 2023
In the table below, we'll further analyse how impactful the Kishan-Green-SKY trio have been for MI at Wankhede this season.
| Player | Innings | Runs | Average | S.R. | 50s | 100s | Best | 6s | % of total runs scored |
| Ishan Kishan | 7 | 206 | 29.43 | 157.25 | 1 | 0 | 58 | 11 | 46.92% |
| Cameron Green | 7 | 229 | 76.33 | 172.18 | 1 | 1 | 100* | 13 | 58.87% |
| Suryakumar Yadav | 7 | 367 | 73.40 | 201.65 | 3 | 1 | 103* | 20 | 71.82% |
The numbers prove that Green and SKY have scored the bulk of their runs this season at Wankhede Stadium. Kishan, meanwhile, has scored less than half his runs in Mumbai, but collectively, they've scored more at Wankhede than away from Wankhede. While the trio have scored a combined five half-centuries and two tons in Mumbai, they have only scored four half-centuries between themselves away from home.
Mumbai Indians' record away from home in IPL 2023
| Opponent | Venue | Away team score | Away team run rate | MI score | MI run rate | Result | MI top scorer |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore | 172-2 (16.2) | 10.53 | 171-7 (20) | 8.55 | Lost by 8 wickets | Tilak Varma (84* off 46) |
| Delhi Capitals | Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi | 172-10 (19.4) | 8.75 | 173-4 (20) | 8.65 | Won by 6 wickets | Rohit Sharma (65 off 45) |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium, Hyderabad | 178-10 (19.5) | 8.97 | 192-5 (20) | 9.60 | Won by 14 runs | Cameron Green (64* off 40) |
| Gujarat Titans | Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad | 207-6 (20) | 10.35 | 152-9 (20) | 7.60 | Lost by 55 runs | Nehal Wadhera (40 off 21) |
| Punjab Kings | Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali | 214-3 (20) | 10.70 | 216-4 (18.5) | 11.47 | Won by 6 wickets | Ishan Kishan (75 off 41) |
| Chennai Super Kings | MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai | 140-4 (17.4) | 7.92 | 139-8 (20) | 6.95 | Lost by 6 wickets | Nehal Wadhera (64 off 51) |
| Lucknow Super Giants | Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow | 177-3 (20) | 8.85 | 172-5 (20) | 8.60 | Lost by 5 runs | Ishan Kishan (59 off 39) |
Compared to three at Wankhede, five different players were top scorers of the team when MI played away from home.
This shows that there wasn't much consistency with the batting away from home. MI crossed 200 just once as compared to the five 200+ totals at Wankhede. Indeed, one can say that the Wankhede pitches are tailored for batting. But the fact that three teams scored at a run rate of over 10 against MI as opposed to MI just scoring over 10 per over once, it can be implied that the MI batting lineup struggled away from Wankhede.
MORE: How do the IPL 2023 playoffs work?
Comparison: MI's run rate at home and away
| Overs | Runs | Runs per wicket | Run rate | |
| At Wankhede | 131.4 | 1377 | 40.5 | 10.46 |
| Away from Wankhede | 138.5 | 1215 | 28.93 | 8.75 |
Mumbai Indians have faced 43 less deliveries at Wankhede as compared to away grounds, while scoring 162 more runs.
At home, MI have lost a total of 34 wickets in seven games, while they have lost 42 wickets away from home. There is also a 20% spike in run rate of MI's batsmen at Wankhede.
These stats further prove how dominant MI batsmen have been in their own den, while they've struggled for the most part away from home, winning three and losing four games.
