Indian Premier League 2020 opener: Mumbai Indians to begin title defence against Chennai Super Kings

In a repeat of last year's final, defending champions Mumbai Indians will take-on Chennai Super Kings to kick-off IPL 2020. MS Dhoni will mark his much awaited return to cricket after more than an year.

Image Credits: Twitter/@ImRo45

After much anticipation, the Indian Premier League ( IPL) 2020 will kick-off on Saturday with the heavyweight clash between defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) and three-time winners Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

The match will be a repeat of last year’s final where Mahendra Singh Dhoni led-Chennai were narrowly edged out by Mumbai by just one run. With their victory last year, Mumbai Indians became the most successful franchise in IPL history with four title victories, while Chennai Super Kings are second close behind them with three crowns.

MS Dhoni, who had announced his retirement from international cricket last month, will be inching for a victorious return to cricket. The veteran wicketkeeper-batsman hasn’t played in more than an year ever since India’s dismal loss to New Zealand in the World Cup semifinals last year. He will look to come out all guns blazing in his return to professional cricket.

While both sides boast of robust squads, it must be highlighted that this year the two giants are missing some crucial names from their lineups. Chennai will miss the services of Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh (both opted out for personal reasons).

Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians will have some big boots to fill after the withdrawal of their bowling spearhead Lasith Malinga from this year’s edition.

These are big match players, who can turn the game around single-handedly on their day. Malinga was the trump card for Mumbai in the last year’s final. With CSK needing just nine runs from the final over and five wickets in hand in 2019 IPL final, the Sri Lankan star turned the tide in Mumbai’s favor when he picked up two wickets and conceded just six runs to grasp victory for his side from the jaws of defeat.

The 37-year-old fast bowler is also the highest wicket-taker in IPL history with an astonishing 170 wickets from just 122 games at a miserly economy rate of 7.14 The Rohit Sharma-led side had immediately announced the signing of Australian seamer James Pattinson as his replacement.

But even in Malinga’s absence, Mumbai’s pace battery brags of the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Mitchell McClenaghan, Dhawal Kulkarni, James Pattinson and Nathan-Coulter Nile. Bumrah’s death bowling craft is second to none and Mumbai will rely on his able shoulders to spearhead their attack this year.  

CSK too will miss the services of Suresh Raina, their highest run-getter in IPL history and the second-highest in general behind Virat Kohli . Raina has been the yellow franchise’s linchpin in the middle-order over the years, playing several crucial knocks as per the demands of the situation. The side are yet to name a direct replacement for Raina.

The slow pitches of the UAE will assist the spinners if the past records in the country are anything to go by. Several experts believe that we will witness low totals in this edition, thanks to the pitches being a turners paradise.

Even after the withdrawal of the seasoned Harbhajan Singh, CSK still has a strong spin squadron in the form of last year’s purple cap winner Imran Tahir, Piyush Chawla, Mitchell Santner, Karn Sharma, the ever-dependent Ravindra Jadeja and the uncapped left-arm spinner Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore.

On paper it must be said that CSK’s spin attack looks much more potent when compared to Mumbai Indians. The Mahela Jayawardene coached side lack experienced spin operators with Rahul Chahar being their only frontline spinner while all-rounders Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy, Jayant Yadav and Prince Balwant Rai their other options.

But Mumbai Indians will come into the match with a superior head to head record. In 28 matches, they have won 17 encounters while CSK could only muster 11 wins. Mumbai are also on a five-match win streak against Chennai – and will look to carry that momentum in their favor.

CSK possess a seasoned side- well accustomed to take on any opposition under difficult conditions with their ‘Thala’ MS Dhoni at the helm, and Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis, Kedar Jadhav among others being proven exponents at the highest level.

But Mumbai have the edge here with the sheer amount of match winners that they have in their ranks: Their captain ‘hitman’ Rohit Sharma, Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya, Keiron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Chris Lynn and Quinton de Kock - all capable of changing their side’s fortunes at any stage of the game.

It’s all to play for with a pretty even clash lined-up and we expect nothing short of an absolute cracker of a game to get the ball rolling in this cricket festival.

The match starts at 7:30 pm IST.

Chennai Super Kings Squad:

MS Dhoni (Captain), Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Murali Vijay, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Lungi Ngidi, Shardul Thakur, Piyush Chawla, Josh Hazlewood, R Sai Kishore Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Monu Kumar, Karn Sharma, Sam Curran, N Jagadeesan

Coach: Stephen Fleming

Mumbai Indians squad:

Rohit Sharma(Captain), Sherfane Rutherford, Suryakumar Yadav, Anmolpreet Singh, Chris Lynn, Saurabh Tiwary, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell McClenaghan, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Mohsin Khan, Prince Balwant Rai Singh, Digvijay Deshmukh, Hardik Pandya, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Ishan Kishan, Quinton de Kock, Aditya Tare

Coach: Mahela Jayawardene