Parthiv Patel believes that not playing at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai won’t impact the IPL defending champions Mumbai Indians as they have all the bases covered.IPL 2021 will be staged across six venues, with none of the franchises playing on their home turf. The Mumbai Indians have their league stage matches scheduled in Chennai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Kolkata.
Parthiv Patel Did A Lot Of Scouting For Mumbai Indians And Stressed Piyush Chawla Brought Experience As A Wrist Spinner
During a discussion on Star Sports, Parthiv Patel pointed out that the Mumbai Indians have assembled a squad good enough to perform in all conditions.
“I have done a lot of scouting for MI. I know what kind of work we have put in, what kind of process the Mumbai Indians have put in. It will not matter as much where Mumbai Indians are playing,” said Parthiv Patel.
“If there was any one thing which anyone would have talked about last year’s Mumbai Indians squad is the need of another experienced spinner, ideally a wrist-spinner, we have got that. This year we went in with the thought that it is just a one year tournament with the big auction coming up, we needed the most experienced wrist-spinner in the side and we got it. So, I think we have covered all the bases as far as the Mumbai Indians is concerned,” added Parthiv Patel.
The addition of Piyush Chawla, the third-highest wicket-taker in IPL history, will lend some much-needed experience to the Mumbai Indians’ spin attack. One of the most successful bowlers in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Piyush Chawla is number three in the list of highest wicket-takers in IPL having snaffled 156 victims from 160 matches to be placed just behind Lasith Malinga and Amit Mishra.
Ahead of IPL 2020, he was released by KKR, and then he went into the IPL Player Auction. After a bidding war with Kings XI Punjab, Piyush Chawla was secured by CSK but picked only 6 scalps in 7 matches.
Parthiv Patel: Marco Jansen Bowls Well
Parthiv Patel also explained that the Mumbai Indians scouting team had done their homework before roping in uncapped South African all-rounder Marco Jansen. He was snapped up by MI at his base price of INR 20 lakh at the IPL 2021 Auction.
“Everyone is playing good cricket. There have been some surprises about Marco Jansen where not many people knew about it but we have seen in the videos how well he can bowl. He is tall, lanky, 20-year-old and can hit long. We released Coulter-Nile and got another two fast bowlers. So all in all, the Mumbai Indians are sitting pretty. Now it is up to how we prepare and how the process happens and just get that habit going,” concluded Patel.
The Mumbai Indians will be hoping to win a record-extending sixth IPL title this year. It would also make them the first team to win a hat-trick of titles in the prestigious league if they manage to emerge victorious yet again.
Marco Jansen was given an opportunity to bowl at the Indian players in the nets during their South African tour in 2017-18. After Virat Kohli and head coach Ravi Shastri saw them, they invited him and his twin brother Duan Jansen, to come and bowl at another practice session.
Marco Jansen made his first-class debut for North West Province in the CSA 3-day Provincial Cup 2018-19. He has played 12 matches and picked up 52 wickets at an average of 20.51 and a brilliant strike-rate of 37.8. In List A cricket, he has played 13 matches, picking up 16 wickets. He was called up for the South African team which toured Pakistan recently. He didn’t get a Test cap but got some priceless experience with the national team for the first time.
Ahead of IPL 2021 auction, Mumbai Indians had released seven players out of their squad in the likes of Lasith Malinga, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Pattinson, Sherfane Rutherford, and Mitchell McCleneghan.
Australia pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile turned out to be Mumbai Indians’ biggest buy at INR 5 crores. Mumbai Indians also inducted New Zealand pacer, Adam Milne, into their team. The right-arm pacer was bought for INR 3.2 crores. Mumbai Indians also spent INR 20 lakh to buy Sachin Tendulkar’s son Arjun Tendulkar in their team and bought allrounder James Neesham for INR 50 lakh.