2017 IPL winners Mumbai Indians' smartest buy that helped Rohit Sharma & co. win 3rd title

Mumbai Indians, with four titles, is the most successful Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise in the history of the tournament. The franchise is well-known for its smart purchases at the auction and for consistently investing in youth cricketers. Their success story was no different in IPL 2017 as one of their smart buys at the auction ended up being an instrumental figure in their title clash against the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS).

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Mitchell Johnson: The unsung hero for 2017 IPL winners Mumbai Indians

During the IPL 2017 auction, Mumbai Indians opted to buy Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson at his base price of ₹2 crore although they missed out on Pat Cummins, who went to Delhi Capitals for ₹4.5 crore. Even though captain Rohit Sharma did not include the left-arm pacer regularly in his playing XI throughout the season, he decided to play the Australian in the final against the RPS. As a result, Mitchell Johnson ended up wrecking the RPS’ batting order with figures of 3-26 off four overs. He accounted for the wickets of Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith, Manoj Tiwary and also bowled a tight final over, conceding just nine runs to secure a 1-run win for Mumbai Indians.

2019 and 2017 IPL winners: The road ahead

With their 1-run win, Mumbai Indians went on to lift the coveted title for the third time in history. The 2017 IPL winners repeated their success in IPL 2019 with the same margin albeit against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Mumbai Indians will now launch their title defence in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as IPL 2020 is currently on schedule to commence from September 19 onwards.

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2017 IPL winners: The final that led Mumbai Indians to lift their third title, watch video

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When is IPL 2020 starting?

To answer the ‘When is IPL 2020 starting’ query, the IPL 2020 schedule is expected to be announced on Sunday, August 2 through a teleconference meeting. The meeting will be held between IPL 2020 Governing Council and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) members. Apart from announcing the schedule, the meeting is also expected to put forth several biosecurity measures which would be mandatory for all players to follow at the newly-decided venue.

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Image credit: 2017 IPL winners Mumbai Indians image from IPLT20.COM