Mahela Jayawardene Explains Reason Behind Mumbai Indians' Success In IPL

Mumbai Indians did not win the IPL even once in the first five seasons of the league. While the Mumbai-based franchise always boasted of a strong lineup, they somehow managed to under-perform in the initial years of the league. But their fortunes have changed dramatically since 2013.

Fast-forward to 2020 and Mumbai Indians are the most successful team in the history of the IPL. They became the first team to win the league thrice in 2017 and became the first team to win it four times last year. No other team has won the IPL four times.

In the last seven seasons, Mumbai Indians have won the league four times. No other team has managed to win the league even twice during this period. And recently, their head coach Mahela Jayawardene opened up on what has made the team so successful in recent years.

Under the former Sri Lanka captain’s coaching, Mumbai Indians have won two titles in the last three editions of IPL. When asked the reason behind it, Mahela Jayawardene said experience is one of things that has helped the team thrive during his time.

“We try to make everybody involved in the processes. The thing with Mumbai is that a lot of guys have a lot of experience. There are very few young guys – about three or four – but those guys also have played a lot of first-class cricket and are mature players.

“So you try and encourage everyone to contribute. It’s always good for the captain to get ideas, and at the end of the day it’s he who has to make the call, but the more ideas he gets (from others), it influences his thought process,” Mahela Jayawardene told ESPNCricinfo.

Well, experience indeed played a big role in Mumbai Indians’ triumph in the last three seasons. They won both of their last two titles by just 1 run. In 2017, they defended a paltry 129 against Rising Pune Supergiant while last year, they defended 149 against Chennai Super Kings.

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