Strengths
Well for one, Shantha Sreesanth's sidelining due to injury leaves little opportunity for a repeat of 2008's face-slap incident so discipline should be on the up this time around.
Dwayne Bravo could be a veritable one-man show should the fit-again all-rounder's recent stint against the English be anything to go buy. His middle-order hitting and ability to mix his pace frequently are well worth his fetching price, even if he does depart from South African shores prematurely to join the Windies in England.
Weaknesses
The purchase of JP Duminy and Graham Napier's services show that the Mumbai powers-that-be are acutely aware of the need for support for Tendulkar and Jayasuriya. Should any two of the aforementioned quartet fail, domestic stars - Shikhar Dhawan, Saurabh Tiwary, Ajinkya Rahane, Jaydev Shah, etc - will need to come to the party for a pittance of what their big-gun compatriots failed to deliver for.
Likely hit
Zaheer Khan does it for India time and time again and his accuracy when the slog is on will prove key. Able to churn out yorkers and swing it away from the left-hander on cue, for his four-over allotment at least he'll defy the evidence that Twenty20 cricket is a batsmen-friendly game.
Likely Flop
Sri Lankan duo Lasith Malinga and Dilhara Fernando are of concern. The former's fitness (or lack thereof) and the latter's no-ball and four-ball woes don't bode well for an attack in need of an able second fiddle to Zaheer.
Prediction
The return of Tendulkar, the arrival of Zaheer and JP Duminy and the welcome departure of 2008 passengers Dominic Thornely, Ashwell Prince and Dwayne Smith will surely see Mumbai finish a couple of places higher than last year's standing of fifth and thus pip them into the semi-finals, but not beyond.
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