IPL 2021: Michael Vaughan predicts winner of IPL 14

Former England cricketer Michael Vaughan (Source: Twitter)

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan believes that defending champions Mumbai Indians will win the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021), which is set to commence from April 9.

While Vaughan admitted that his prediction of the winner of the cash-rich league is quite early, he backed the Rohit Sharma-led side to lift the coveted trophy for the record sixth time.

The former England batsman also named Sunrisers Hyderabad as the probable winners of the IPL 14 if Mumbai Indians are not able to replicate their last year's heroics.

"Early #IPL2021 prediction @mipaltan will win it ... if by some bizarre loss of form then @SunRisers will win it ... #OnOn #India," Vaughan tweeted.

Early #IPL2021 prediction ... @mipaltan will win it ... if by some bizarre loss of form then @SunRisers will win it ... #OnOn #India

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) April 7, 2021

Last month, the former England skipper had said Mumbai Indians are a better T20 side than Team India. Meanwhile, star cricketer Kieron Pollard has finished his seven-day quarantine period and will now begin training for the upcoming tournament.

"He left West Indies and joined the MI unit in Chennai. He has just finished his quarantine period as prescribed by the BCCI Standard Operating Procedure and that is why he wasn't seen around in MI training activities," the source close to the West Indies all-rounder told ANI.

The IPL SOP only excused players who were part of the India-England limited-overs series and moved directly to their respective IPL bio-bubbles from undergoing mandatory quarantine.

The Mumbai Indians outfit suffered a scare on Tuesday after scout and wicket-keeping consultant Kiran More tested positive for COVID-19. But fortunately, the test on the players and rest of the support staff came negative. But as a precautionary measure, Mumbai Indians' training session for Tuesday was cancelled.

Defending champions Mumbai Indians will begin their campaign against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Friday (April 9) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.