We all know that the VIVO Indian Premier League is one of the most followed sporting leagues around the world, and we’re just a couple of days away from the start of the 11th edition of the IPL. Defending champions Mumbai Indians will take on Chennai Super Kings, in a rematch of the 2015 IPL final, which was also CSK’s last IPL game for the next two years.
Teams
Chennai has been out for the last 2 years. They have a talented squad, but haven’t played together for a while. They have names that will boast of a lot of experience, but they are a physically ageing team, with veterans like MS Dhoni, Imran Tahir, Shane Watson & Harbhajan Singh.
Captains
While Rohit Sharma doesn’t have the worst numbers as captain, he will definitely not be a match against the genius mind of MS Dhoni. MI have won three titles and CSK have won two, but it could’ve been a different story had CSK played for the last 2 years. With his old faithfuls like Raina and Jaddu in the team, I’m expecting Dhoni’s magic to be seen in yellow once again.
The likes of Faf, Bravo, Jaddu and Raina have all played together in yellow before, while Rohit Sharma may not have a team that has gelled as well. He has the Pandya brothers though, who love playing together. Quite a few new names have joined the MI squad and Rohit may find it tough early on to make everyone settle down.
Head to head
Let’s talk about the IPL 2015 season, where these two faced off a record 4 times. While CSK won the first one, Mumbai won the next three – the more important ones. They also beat Chennai in the final, and the same was repeated in the IPL 2017 final, were Rohit’s MI team beat Dhoni’s Pune Supergiant.
