Former skipper of India’s national women’s cricket team and commentator Anjum Chopra backs Mumbai Indians to make a hat-trick of the IPL titles after winning back-to-back tournaments in the UAE last year.
The side, led by Rohit Sharma, defeated Delhi Capitals in the 2020 final in Dubai on November 10 and, in five months, is back on the field to take part in the 2021 edition.
Speaking to The Pioneer ahead of the 2021 season, Chopra said: “Mumbai Indians will start as the favourites because there are no loopholes in that line-up. Just six (five) months back, they won the last championship. And they haven’t changed many players from that squad. At least the playing eleven remains the same. The majority of their players are in good form and you can never discount them from the competition because of their consistency.”
In March, Mumbai Indians middle-order batsman Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan made their India debut, with both scoring 50s in their maiden International innings against England in the recently-concluded T20 International series.
Also in the One Day Internationals, Krunal Pandya hit 50 in his first match.
Ahead of the auction in Chennai this year, Mumbai — who have lifted the trophy on five occasions — retained the core group, apart from adding the likes of experienced Piyush Chawla, Kiwi all-rounder Jimmy Neesham and pacer Adam Milne, besides a few rookies including Arjun Tendulkar.
In fact, the 20-year-old, 6’8” South African left-arm pacer Marco Jansen made his debut against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the season’s opener on Friday and took 2-28 in his four-over spell. And if that was not enough, the return of Hardik Pandya as a bowler is a welcome boost for the side. Hardik didn’t bowl in the last season but, with his remodelled action, picked up the ball against England in the T20I series. However, whether he will bowl during the tournament is still unclear.
Talking about other teams, Anjum, who is part of the Star Sports commentary team for this IPL, said the form of Virat Kohli and Ab de Villiers will be crucial for Royal Challengers Bangalore’s chances despite the team having the likes of T20 specialist Glenn Maxwell.
“Like every year, there are high expectations from RCB. Last time, they came close (finished third after losing Qualifier 2 against Delhi Capitals). But again the onus lies on two players — Virat Kohli and Ab de Villiers. It’s good to have Glenn Maxwell but Virat and AB’s form will be decisive,” she said.
After the final T20I against England on March 20, Virat announced that he will open the innings in IPL as well. Anjum believes that it is a well-planned move by the Indian skipper to get into the groove ahead of the T20 World Cup in India later this year. “It (Virat as opener) just broadens the options. If he wants to open, no one will stop him and, I think, before he decides to open, he definitely would have worked out the combination of the Indian line-up as well. The IPL matches are just going to give him that greater exposure to open and structure the innings because we (India) are leading into the World Cup.
“And if Virat and Rohit Sharma open in the World Cup and lay a strong foundation, it will be easy for players like Suryakumar and Hardik to follow,” she added.
One thing that makes this edition different from yesteryears is that there are no home games for any team. It is going to play a key role in the tournament, according to the former India captain.
“The neutral venue concept will affect a lot in this tournament because teams make strategies according to home conditions. When it was announced that the tournament would be held in India, it meant seven home games for every team. So everyone picked the players according to that but now when it is not there, it will have an impact,” Anjum opined.
On the “one player to watch out for” in the tournament, she put her weight behind Hardik Pandya. “He will have a fantastic tournament. He had one in Dubai too and, this time, he will do even better,” she concluded.
