Former Indian captain and legend Sunil Gavaskar took no time to comment on the team he feels is going to win the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League which is going to commence from September 19. The prime reason why he felt so is that if the team can win four titles then why not five.
He said that Mumbai Indians have a lot of experience of how to play in the finals and get the result in their favor and thus can easily retain the title by winning it for the fifth time. He also made a point that the talent Mumbai have in their squad entitles them to be ‘the team to beat’ in this season’s IPL.
While talking to India Today, Gavaskar said, “You pick a team and say that for certain that they will win the IPL because T20 is a format where a match situation changes within the span of one over. But I would certainly say that the teams that have played the finals before have an advantage over the others. Playing in the league stage is completely different from playing in the knockouts and final.”
“Mumbai Indians have won the IPL four times and that means they know how to come out of difficult situations. That is why I feel MI shouldn’t find it too difficult to win the championship again this year.”
He then went on to enumerate the strong points and the weaknesses of Mumbai Indians. Having already praised the young talent Mumbai possess, Gavaskar felt that the team lacks reliable batsmen in the middle order. He also said that the team doesn’t have any experienced spinners in the team, while he also expressed his excitement to see how useful the newly bought Shane Rutherford will turn out.
He also mentioned the UAE pitches being slower and the grounds being enormous. Thus, Gavaskar revealed that any team should focus on putting up a total between 160-180 in this year’s IPL.
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