Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar believes that Mumbai Indians are once again a top contender for the IPL, and could end up winning their sixth IPL title this season.
The IPL 2022 gets off the ground on Saturday, March 26, with defending champions Chennai Super Kings taking on runner-ups Kolkata Knight Riders. Mumbai Indians, the five-time champions, will play their first game of the season on Sunday afternoon against Rishabh Pant’s Delhi Capitals at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.
Although Mumbai don’t have many of their players from the last cycle in which they won two consecutive titles, they have managed to retain or buy back most of their core – Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard and Suryakumar Yadav were retained while Ishan Kishan was brought back in the mega-auction. They have also roped in several white-ball stars during the mega-auction to once again build a powerful squad.
Sunil Gavaskar pointed out that Rohit Sharma’s side has in the past won many games while coming from behind. He admitted that MI don’t start the season with a winning spree but remain calm to not panic and are good enough to catch up with bumper wins later in the season.
“This Mumbai team has the knowledge about how to win the matches. And because of that, they have won so many matches from losing positions in the past as well. Yes, they are slow starters in every season, but due to the number of teams this time, they will have time to make it up,” Gavaskar told the Sports Tak YouTube channel.
The 72-year-old commentator also reckoned that a team that has Rohit Sharma as the best batsman and Jasprit Bumrah as their bowling spearhead is always in the hunt for the trophy.
“If you have a batting leader like Rohit Sharma and a bowling leader like Jasprit Bumrah, then it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone if they (Mumbai Indians) go on to win the tournament once again this year,” Gavaskar maintained.
