Mumbai Indians have retained the core of last year's team, which makes them one of the tournament favourites. Though they were losing finalists in 2010, their record in the league stage of 10 wins from 14 games was by far the best.

Most importantly, they have kept hold of the "Little Master" Sachin Tendulkar. He is backed up by the powerful hitting of the two all-rounders, Kieron Pollard and Andrew Symonds.

Also retained were two of the best bowlers in the Twenty20 format, Indian off-spinner Harbajhan Singh and fast bowler Lasith Malinga.

Strengths

Tendulkar is their most obvious strength, if he can recover from his World Cup exertions. He may be nearing the end of his career, but his batting is now the perfect blend of technique, flair and experience.

Tendulkar was the top scorer in the IPL last year, contributing five fifties at a decent strike rate of 133. He scores faster than more muscular hitters despite playing orthodox, risk-free strokes.

Tendulkar receives specialist batting support from the $2m buy Rohit Sharma, one of the most expensive purchases of IPL4.

The South African Davy Jacobs also looks a good buy as he keeps wicket as well as contributing useful middle-order runs.

Symonds and Pollard are crucial to the side's success as they are effective with both bat and ball.

Pollard was the sixth-highest wicket taker last year despite being better known for his big hitting, and Symonds featured in both the bowling and batting averages.

Weaknesses

The loss of Indian strike bowler Zaheer Khan is a big blow. Zaheer was one of the main reasons why India won the World Cup and is a master of subtle variations.

Malinga is also a brilliant one-day bowler, especially at the death when he spears yorkers in at the batsmen’s feet, but if he were to get injured Mumbai's bowling would lack pace.

The likes of Munaf Patel, James Franklin, Ali Murtuza and Henriques would have to fill the seam bowling void.

Another potential weakness is the difficult relationship between spinner Harbhajan Singh and Symonds. Their feud goes back to an incident in a Test match in 2008 which saw Harbajhan fined 50 per cent of his match fee.

This headstrong pair may test captain Tendulkar's powers of diplomacy.

Key men: Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Harbajhan Singh

2010 position: Runners up

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