The Indian Premier League kicks off on Saturday with the two biggest franchises in the history of the competition colliding in Abu Dhabi when the Mumbai Indians begin their title defence against the side they disposed of in the final last year – Chennai Super Kings.
Between them these two sides have seven IPL titles to their name and are comfortable the most successful franchises there has been and with star quality throughout both squads everywhere you look this one doesn’t really need any extra building up.
Mumbai Indians
The Mumbai Indians edged out the Chennai Super Kings to win the title last season but so much has changed ahead of this term not least the conditions. They are advantaged that with the exception of those players who were involved in the Caribbean Premier League or for Australia in England, their players have been in this part of the world for a while and should have some idea of what to expect in terms of conditions and things.
The big concern for the Indians will be that their squad is designed for the good batting pitches of the Wankhede and not necessarily the slower and lower tracks they are going to encounter throughout the IPL. A lack of world class spin could get highlighted very quickly in this tournament while when you look at their batting, while there is no shortage of stars in it, they all tend to want to open or finish the innings.
Chennai Super Kings
If the Chennai Super Kings need any motivating ahead of this opening match they only need to think back to the final last year to find some. I’m sure they won’t need that though given how long everyone has had to wait to get the season started. The Super Kings have had to arrive late in this part of the world though so they will be playing blind from a conditions point of view, although much of what they see when they take the field will be close to their home ground back in India.
The big advantage Chennai have going into the competition is that with their ground often delivering slow, low and turning tracks, they have built their squad for that and that is exactly what they are likely to get if not here then certainly the longer the tournament is played. With that in mind the likes of Dwayne Bravo, Sam Curran and MS Dhoni could be key men while leading wicket taker from last year, Imran Tahir, should go well.
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Key Men
Kieron Pollard will be used to these sorts of tracks having played on plenty of them in the recent Caribbean Premier League. Despite the low and slow tracks he was still able to show his power and his overs with the ball became more significant the longer the event went on. He could be key to the Mumbai Indians here.
There will obviously be a lot of attention on MS Dhoni in this match. It is the first time he will have been in action since he retired from international cricket and all eyes will be on him here to see if he can still cut it at this level. His batting will be important but his captaincy brain possibly even more so.
Betting
Whatever happens here one strong historical statistic is going to end. Mumbai Indians have a stranglehold over the Chennai Super Kings at the minute having won eight of their last 10 battles but they haven’t won the first match of a season since 2012 so something has to give on that score. I suspect it will be their dominance over the Super Kings which will draw to a close here as I don’t think the opening day struggles are a fluke.
Mumbai usually bring in a big name in a close season, this year it is Chris Lynn, and then struggle to work out their best line up and how they want to go about things. They also rely too heavily on all-rounders for my liking as well. I think Chennai Super Kings are the better balanced of the two and although they are an aging side they have been together for a few years. Suresh Raina not being around isn’t ideal but there is enough quality in their ranks to get the job done at a fair price.
Tips
WON – Back Chennai Super Kings to beat Mumbai Indians for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Coral
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