IPL Auction 2020: 3 players who can start a bidding war between CSK and MI
The pre-season trade window of IPL 2020 was the buzz among the cricketing fraternity last week. As expected, several underperforming star players were released by the franchises.
With the trade window done now, it is time for the IPL 2020 auction, which will be held in Kolkata on December 19, 2019.
Even before their maiden IPL clash in 2008, the defending champions Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings began their rivalry with an intense battle in the inaugural IPL auction to secure the singing of MS Dhoni. Since then, the two teams have been part of several intense battles both on and off the field.
Just like every other season, we can expect a large number of players to participate in the upcoming IPL auction. Among them, let us look at three players who can start a bidding war between CSK and MI.
Also see - India vs West Indies schedule 2019
#3 James Neesham
After a long layoff, James Neesham finally returned to the international arena at the start of the year, against Sri Lanka. Since then, the Kiwi allrounder has become one of the prominent members in the New Zealand limited-overs setup. Since all-rounders have always commanded considerable attraction at IPL auctions, we can expect a bidding war for the now in-form Neesham.
MS Dhoni almost single-handedly led CSK’s batting department last season, scoring 416 runs in 12 innings. He lacked support from the other end during the death overs. Hence we can expect CSK to buy an experienced explosive batsman to strengthen their dodgy middle order. With an added advantage of being an all-rounder, Neesham fits CSK’s plans.
With Ben Cutting being released and Hardik Pandya still recovering from injury, Mumbai Indians will look for an additional all-rounder to support Kieron Pollard. Even though Neesham cannot match the ability of Pollard, he can be a perfect back-up option for the big West Indian allrounder. Since Pollard is not young anymore, he can be rotated with Neesham during the middle stages of the tournament. Hence, we expect MI to go after Neesham in the upcoming auction.