IPL 2021: Brad Hogg predicts Mumbai Indians’ playing XI ahead of 14th season
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As the 14th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) inches closer predictions around the playing XIs of the franchises have started to flood in. Following the trend, former Australian spinner Brad Hogg has predicted the playing XI for Mumbai Indians. Having defended their title in 2020, MI will be keen on making a hattrick of IPL titles this time around.
Hogg chose to go with an unchanged top order for MI from the previous season. The Aussie picked captain Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock as the openers. He then went with India’s latest pair of T20I players, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan to come in at number 3 and 4 respectively. Hogg is confident of the duo’s international experience paying dividend.
”They will have Rohit Sharma and De Kock opening the batting. They both complement each other. Rohit Sharma will be a bit more conservative trying to bat the maximum number of overs. De Kock, his role will be to get the momentum, get off to a good start in the powerplay.” said Hogg on his official Youtube channel.
”Then you have got Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan coming in at 3 and 4. Both have just got a little bit of international experience and they would be better for that as well,” Brad Hogg said.
“Piyush Chawla will add wicket-taking depth,” Brad Hogg
In the lower middle order, Hogg yet again chose to go with the tried and tested options in Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya and Hardik Pandya. It is worth noting that, MI now have the services of Jimmy Neesham and Marco Jansen to fill in as handy lower-order options.
”Kieron Pollard at 5, Hardik Pandya at 6, and Krunal Pandya at 7 – the powerhouse of this team. Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya had a strike rate of over 200 in the last five overs. That is where they took the competition away,” said Hogg.
The Aussie has a huge change in the bowling department. Hogg has chosen to go with veteran Piyush Chawla as the leg spinner in the side replacing Rahul Chahar. Hogg explains that Chawla’s knack for taking wickets will add an extra dimension to the attack. Hogg chose Nathan Coulter-Nile as the third pacer to go with Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult.
”Nathan Coulter-Nile will come in at 8. He can be handy with the bat as well. I think Piyush Chawla will be in the starting XI. He is the third leading wicket-taker in the competition and will add wicket-taking depth, with Boult and Bumrah at the other end,” Brad Hogg opined.
Brad Hogg’s starting XI for Mumbai Indians
Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah.
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Anshuman Mahapatra
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