IPL 2019: 4 teams that could change their opening pair
The opening pair of each team is a vital cog in the functioning of the side throughout a season. Last season, many bids went for openers and few of them lived up to the price tag while others turned out to be disappointments. Most teams got runs from their middle order or their number three and four batsmen, while teams like Kings XI Punjab depended solely on their openers.
With the auction scheduled to take place and the trades already starting to take place, let's take a look at 5 teams which may have to change their opening combination for the IPL 2019 season.
#1 Royal Challengers Bangalore
The RCB spent the most money in last year's auction and had a very good squad on paper. In reality, though, the performances didn't come and it was mostly up to Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers to do the bulk of the scoring while Umesh Yadav made a few contributions with the ball.
Their expensive opening pair of Brendon McCullum and Quinton De Kock didn't show up last season with the Kiwi collecting 127 runs and De Kock scoring 201 runs.
De Kock was released by the Royal Challengers and was roped in by the Mumbai Indians who too didn't get many runs from their opening pair last season. This indicates that the management is willing to make the changes for the next season and hopefully, players like Manan Vohra who was warming the bench last time around will get chances to play.
With not much money left in their purse, RCB must be careful as to who they plan to buy in the auction.
#2 Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians had many star players last season but not all of them turned out to be the performers that the team expected them to be. Evin Lewis was signed amidst high hopes that he and Rohit Sharma could notch up some big runs but the plan failed in the first match itself when Lewis got out without scoring and Rohit got out for 15.
Rohit demoted himself to number 4 and let Suryakumar Yadav, who was a revelation in that role, open the batting and the explosive Ishan Kishan to play at number 3.
While Suryakumar Yadav impressed, both Rohit and Evin Lewis were inconsistent, though the former appears to have regained his form on national duty. Mumbai have made a statement by signing De Kock from the RCB: that they are willing to change the order to triumph next season and it will be interesting to see where Rohit will bat and what that means for the other players.