Barring any last minute injuries, and the known absence of Quinton de Kock for the first game, MI will play the same playing XI from last year. And why wouldn’t they? That playing XI, at least the majority of them, won them 2 back-to-back titles. Again, their auction activity was restricted to buy backups or buy back, in case of Nathan Coulter Nile.
The IPL is designed to NOT have calm waters for too long – there is a mega auction that happens after every 3 seasons, with one to happen before the
MI’s squad is one of the most peculiar squads ever. If you look at the indispensable assets of the squad – Rohit Sharma, Pandya Brothers and Jasprit Bumrah – every player has a similar, if not exactly the same replacement sitting on the bench. This has a couple of very interesting implications.
It’s that time of the year but it is not really ‘that’ time of the year. Preparations for the T20 World Cup would have been in full swing right now. Instead we have players converging in UAE almost a month before the start of another IPL season. These are crazy times.
Much like CSK, MI have retained majority of their team from last year and they enter this year’s IPL a couple of acquisitions and some new signings. Lasith Malinga is back as a player and Yuvraj Singh will don Mumbai Indians’ jersey for the first time in IPL.
Am I the only one or does it feel like this year’s IPL is lacking a certain level of enthusiasm that we have become accustomed to over the years? If you think so too, much of the blame can be accredited to the fact that this is the first time in its 12-year history that the IPL, the ICC Cricket World Cup and India’s General Elections are occurring in the same year.
Unexpected, unpredicted and surprising flops of VIVO IPL 2016. Find out the reasons as we try to analyse what went wrong.
The squad goes a long way in determining the outcome of a team. At least when the tournament in question is the Indian Premier League. If history is any indication, IPL has spit out teams who just boast of great names. Only the team with the right combination and the right leader wins this coveted trophy.