IPL 2020: Mumbai Indians' strongest possible lineup
Overhauling of squads, formulation of cores and a sprinkling of some breath-taking talent – months of cogitation finally came to fruition at the IPL Auction 2020, which culminated in Kolkata some time back.
All the franchises have their squads locked in heading into the upcoming edition of the annual extravaganza.
As always, the theme of the auction were stratagems, an element of surprise with a splash of intrigue – relatively unascertained entities fetched some huge sums, whereas interest from multiple teams in a certain profile created an absolute frenzy, driving up the eventual price of the players to an astronomical amount.
From a Mumbai Indians perspective, the auction was pretty good and they have covered all bases going into the 2020 edition of the IPL.
With these acquisitions, Mumbai’s roster has undoubtedly become one of the strongest, and it’s going to be extremely important for the management to strike the perfect balance whilst zeroing-in on the starting eleven that’ll take to the field at the Wankhede Stadium.
Openers
Chris Lynn
The latest addition to Mumbai Indian’s starting eleven this season, Chris Lynn will be expected to slot straight into the team and open the innings alongside Quinton de Kock.
A little reshuffling which would see Rohit Sharma drop down to number three and Suryakumar Yadav come into bat at number four will make Mumbai’s batting lineup even stronger.
The explosive Australian was purchased by Mumbai for his base price of ₹2 crores and represents great value for money, at least on paper. He’s played 41 IPL games, scoring 1280 runs and at a brilliant strike rate of 140.65.
Quinton de Kock
It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that Quinton de Kock was one of Mumbai Indians’ most integral figures in their title-winning campaign last time around.
In typical fashion, the swashbuckling southpaw ensured that Mumbai got off to flying starts and built the base off of which big-hitters like Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard could capitalise.
De Kock’s wide array of strokes coupled with his ability to smash the ball out of the park at will make for a terrifying cocktail for any opposition. The wicket-keeper managed to amass 529 runs at an average of 35.26, whilst maintaining a strike rate of 132.91 last season.
He is expected to open the innings alongside Chris Lynn in the 2020 edition of the tournament and will be hoping to replicate the solid form he displayed throughout the entirety of last season’s league winning campaign.