Will Mumbai Indians emerge 14th time lucky?

Season after season, without interruption, Mumbai Indians—the joint-most successful franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with five titles—have failed to win their opening game. Another season, another campaign opener, and the familiar question returns: can they break the first match jinx?

"Well, let's hope that the shocking record that MI have in the first game continues on. Obviously, we're playing here at Wankhede Stadium, it's a fortress. The Mumbai Indians are very hard to beat here," said Shane Watson, assistant coach of Kolkata Knight Riders, MI's opponents on Sunday night.

Mumbai Indians and their opening-game curse has become more than just a recurring theme in the IPL. The narrative extends beyond the league, finding parallels in South Africa's knockout struggles in the ICC white-ball competitions and New Zealand's record of near-misses in global white ball finals.

"I mean it is very different in the room, but there is no way for us to, I don't think, prepare differently. I think we just…if you look at the season that I was involved in, we had close matches we lost. I think I have spoken to the boys about it—the intensity being there for that first game, I think that's all we can control," Mahela Jayawardene, MI's coach, said on the eve of the game.

The jinx runs seriously deep—Mumbai Indians have lost their opening game for 13 consecutive seasons and 14 of their 18 season openers overall. They lost their very first match as well, to Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2008.

At home and at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Indians are a formidable force, with 57 wins from 92 matches—a success rate of 62 percent. But their opening-game record at home is abysmal—with four defeats in as many games. The last time MI won their first match of a season was back in 2012 when they toppled a powerful Chennai Super Kings in their backyard at Chepauk by eight wickets.

"I think it often has to do with preparation. Often your overseas players arrive last minute before the first game starts because of tight international schedules and wanting a bit of time at home. So delay arrival until the last minute. I think this year that they have had plenty of time to be prepared. So I think they could break that jinx this year," Shaun Pollock, a South African legend and former coach of Mumbai Indians, told Cricbuzz.

Pollock was part of the MI coaching staff from 2009-12 and they had the all-win first match record with him in the setup. "I must be the lucky charm," he said.

The closest Mumbai Indians came to breaking the jinx in recent years was in 2018, when they faced Chennai Super Kings, who were returning from a two-year ban. But the MS Dhoni-led side sent the Wankhede Stadium into silence in the final two overs. Dwayne Bravo smashed 20 runs off the penultimate over bowled by Jasprit Bumrah, before Kedar Jadhav sealed the win with a six and a four off the fourth and fifth balls from Mustafizur Rahman.

"I have asked the guys to go out and play a good game of cricket at that high intensity. So other than that, I don't see how else we could prepare because we pretty much prepare for each and every game the same way, but hopefully I can break that rule," Jayawardene said.

Coming back to Sunday's match, it could well be MI's best chance to break their sequence of defeats in opening games. Kolkata Knight Riders had, on paper, a strong attack after the auction and it could have been a contest between one of the best batting lineups and one of the strongest bowling attacks.

However, the Knight Riders have suffered a series of setbacks: Matheesha Pathirana is yet to be integrated into the side, Harshit Rana has been ruled out of the season, and Mustafizur Rahman has had to be left out. Besides, their main spinner, Varun Chakaravarthy, has been off-colour lately, and there is talk in the circuit that he has been figured out.

Mumbai Indians also enjoy a strong head-to-head record against Kolkata Knight Riders, having won 24 of their 35 meetings. What's more, MI have their talisman Jasprit Bumrah—bowling as well as ever—available for selection. MI should start as favourites, unless their opening-game curse continues.