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Mumbai Indians

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Break down of the decision-making trends of the most successful team in IPL history

During the Indian Premier League’s 13 year run, there has been one team that has consistently performed and won the most matches in the league’s history. That team is Mumbai Indians.
Total Matches Won
120
Total IPL Titles Won
5
CLT20 Titles Won
2
While the success of the team is directly correlated with the players’ performances, how do key decisions in each match influence the outcome? How have these decisions impacted the team’s success in dominating the league?

The visualizations below aim to provide an insight into how these small decisions have played a key role in the Mumbai Indians' wins throughout the years.
Mumbai Indians' Winning History
Mumbai Indians have consecutively played in each season since the establishment of IPL. Throughout the 13 year history, this team has managed to win the most matches out of all other teams.
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How important is winning the toss?
When a team wins the toss, they choose how to start the game and base this decision on their strengths, giving them a distinct advantage in how the game begins.
In cricket, the captain who wins the toss decides whether to bat first or field first. Most cricket analysts claim that batting first is the best option because it allows teams to avoid having to bat last on a wicket, should it come to that.

But for Mumbai Indians, batting hasn’t always been the go-to choice. The second chart shows the decisions the team made when they won the toss i.e. how to play in the 1st inning. This may have to do with pitch conditions in India during the months the IPL is played.


 
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How has the toss decision influenced the total wins per season?
The toss decision is one of the most important factors, as it has the potential to clearly impact the outcome of the match. The chart here displays the team’s toss decision (bat or field first) for their winning matches. These are the matches where the Mumbai Indians won the toss, as well as the match. For example, in 2017, when the won the toss, they opted to field a lot more than to bat.
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How have roster changes impacted the result margins?
The team roster showed that the team has always had a large number of bowlers. The team’s number of all-rounders (capable of batting and fielding) and batsmen have fluctuated. They’ve experimented with different combinations which could explain the variations in the above chart. For example, in 2013 they had 16 players capable of batting (all-rounders + batsmen) which could have contributed to the number of wins when they batted first.


 
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How do the win outcomes compare?
Of the team’s 106 wins, the result margin has varied. The left chart shows the matches where they won by runs i.e batted 1st and were able to strike out all the playersin the other team. The left chart shows the matcher where they won by wickets i.e. batted 2nd and were able to catch up to the runs scored by the other team with batters to spare.
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Result margin for runs has historically been hovering around 0-40 runs, even reaching the mid 140s.
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Wickets margin has always been fair to substantial - atleast 4-5 wickets left.
How do the Mumbai Indians compare to other teams in the league?
It’s clear that this is the most successful team in the league, but how exactly do the Mumbai Indians compare to other teams?

Though they have easily claimed the most wins, their journey to the top has not always been consistent in comparison to other teams in the league.
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The teams with rank 0 are teams that were suspended for that season and hence didn’t participate in the league during that year.
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