IPL 2020: 3 reasons why Mumbai Indians can win it
The IPL 2020 auctions came to an end this week and we now know all the squads, heading into the new season. Just a mere look at the squads will tell you how competitive next year's competition is going to be and it would be great practice before the ICC T20 World Cup in October next year.
We are here to talk about the defending champions, the 4-time IPL winners - Mumbai Indians (MI). The Rohit Sharma led side will be gunning for another successful season this year and they made some smart purchases in this year's auctions.
Chris Lynn and Nathan Coulter-Nile were the big buys from the defending champions, while Saurabh Tiwary, Mohsin Khan, and Balwant Rai Singh were the inexpensive buys. MI have always been renowned for their ability to unearth Indian talent. Rahul Chahar was the one who came up with the goods last season and will the trend continue next season? Only time will tell. Here, we are going to take a look at the three reasons why MI look the most convincing side heading into IPL 2020.
#3 Quality back-up options
The IPL is not your average T20 tournament, it's a proper league that goes on for roughly two months. Hence, it is almost mandatory to have big squads and back-ups for your star players.
The thing is, Mumbai Indians don't just have back-ups for the sake of it, they have some real quality on their bench. The likes of Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Shefrane Rutherford, Mitchell McClenaghan, Dhawal Kulkarni, etc, are the players that will not play every game and yet, some of those overseas players will easily fit into the starting XI of other sides.
MI came into the auctions for IPL 2020 with a clear plan - to sign quality back-ups for a squad already full of superstars and the management did a brilliant job at that. If Lasith Malinga gets injured, Coulter-Nile can replace him, Boult has a replacement in McClenaghan, while Quinton de Kock has a replacement in Chris Lynn. The same can be said about almost everyone in this incredible squad, with only Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya are the exceptions.