IPL 2019: Mumbai Indians set to unveil powerful opening combination
Mumbai Indians have always been one of the strong sides in the Indian Premier League. Their reliable middle order has often been one of the main reasons for their consistent run in the tournament.
If they have an explosive as well as a consistent opening pair, the sky can be the limit for Mumbai Indians regarding the totals that they can potentially get. Let's analyse why Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock could form the most feared opening combination in the 2019 IPL edition.
Immense six-hitting ability
Both Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock are highly skilled at hitting sixes with ease. Their numbers suggest the same. Considering his recent form as an opener as well as possessing the likes of Kieron Pollard and the Pandya brothers in the middle-order, it should be a fairly straightforward decision for Rohit to open the batting this time around.
Rohit's numbers are staggering when it comes to his six-hitting ability. The elegant right-hander has smashed 202 sixes in ODIs. Among Indian batsmen, only MS Dhoni has hit more maximums. Rohit has hit 320 sixes from 292 T20s. During the past few years, the sixes have been raining from his bat.
Meanwhile, Quinton's six-hitting ability is not too far behind Rohit's. The South African batsman has hammered 101 sixes in his international career thus far across all three formats. He has also hit 141 sixes from exactly 141 T20s.
Consistency at the top of the order
Rohit has been hitting at least one century in almost every series that he has played in these last two years. His century count has now raised to 21 in ODIs, 4 in T20Is. Expanded to include all T20s, he has hit six tons.
Quinton de Kock's count of 3 Test centuries and 13 ODI centuries is quite good considering the number of matches he has played. He has hit 13 centuries from just 98 ODIs. In T20s, the left-hander has three tons to his name.
If their consistency meets their hitting prowess, there will be very few bowling attacks which can stop them.
Rohit's record as captain
Everyone knows that Rohit is one of the most destructive openers in the modern era. However, when he is captaining, the right-hander takes his destructive ability to another level. He constructs his innings when others are firing and starts to decimate the bowlers after getting himself set.
Rohit has also been very good with his field placements and bowling changes in recent times. His captaincy numbers in T20s make for pretty reading. India have won 10 out of 11 T20s that he has captained so far. He has also led Mumbai Indians to three IPL titles.
Upon taking all these things into consideration, we can say that Mumbai Indians can certainly nullify the opposition bowling attack's threat. They have strong hitters like Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya and Ben Cutting in the middle-order. It will be interesting to see how the opponents fare against them when Rohit and de Kock fire together at the top of the order.