Dubai: The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to begin and the excitement level is on the peak. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic IPL has been shifted to the UAE with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) playing Mumbai Indians (MI) in the opener on Saturday (September 19). This is also the first time in history that the tournament would be played during this time period.
Led by Rohit Sharma, Mumbai Indians are the most successful team of the IPL having won the title four times in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019. However, they will be missing the services of Lasith Malinga this year and have announced Australian pacer James Pattinson as a replacement. Rohit will open the batting.
With Rohit and Quinton de Kock opening the batting, the middle order will comprise of Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya – all match-winners on their own day. Ishan Kishan might also play. Leggie Rahul Chahar will play as a lone spinner while the pace battery is likely to have Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah and another medium pacer.
On the other hand CSK will be without their vice-captain Suresh Rain and veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh who opted out due to personal reasons. No replacements have been named yet. Earlier 13 members of CSK including two players Deepak Chahar and Ruturaj Gaikwad tested positive for COVID-19. Though Deepak has recovered but Ruturaj will be unavailable to play the opener as he is yet to clear the two mandatory COVID-19 tests arranged by the IPL.
“We are waiting for BCCI to give us clearance on Gaikwad. He has to undergo the fitness tests (as well),” Kasi Viswanathan, CSK CEO told ESPNcricinfo. Viswanathan said it could take ‘another two days at least’ to get a clear idea on when Gaikwad could return.
The squads:
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (C), Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Faf du Plessis, Shardul Thakur, Mitchell Santner, Dwayne Bravo, Josh Hazlewood, Kedar Jadhav, Karn Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Ambati Rayudu, Lungi Ngidi, Sam Curran, Monu Kumar, Shane Watson, Sai KishoreNarayan Jagadeesan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KM Asif, Ravindra Jadeja, Murali Vijay.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah, Quinton de Kock (Wicketkeeper), Kieron Pollard, Sherfane Rutherford, Suryakumar Yadav, Anmolpreet Singh, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mitchell McClenaghan, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Mohsin Khan, Prince Balwant Rai Singh, Digvijay Deshmukh, Hardik Pandya, Jayant Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ishan Kishan, Aditya Tare, James Pattinson.
