Sachin Tendulkar, the Master Blaster and the legendary batsman of India has claimed that the rivalry between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings is one of the reasons behind the Indian Premier League’s success.
The much-awaited 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League begins on Saturday, September 19, with Mumbai Indians locking horns with age-old rivals Chennai Super Kings. While Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians have claimed the IPL title 4 times, Chennai Super Kings have been champions thrice under MS Dhoni.
MI Skipper Rohit Sharma vs CSK Skipper MS Dhoni. Image Credit: Google
Sachin Tendulkar: Chris Lynn Is An Explosive Starter With Nathan Counter-Nile Is A Death Bowler As Mumbai Indians Are Further Strengthened By The Two Inclusions
Sachin Tendulkar believes that rivalry is crucial in the marquee T20 league’s success. The Master Blaster has also heaped lavish praises on Australian cricketers Chris Lynn and Nathan Coulter-Nile who, according to Sachin Tendulkar, have strengthened the Mumbai Indians’ core in batting and bowling respectively.
Sachin Tendulkar. Image Credit: Getty Images.
“Chris Lynn when it comes to those explosive starts, he is tremendous. Nathan Coulter-Nile swinging the ball upfront and then bowling those death overs also chipping in with his bat. All in all, I think the balance is really nice of course. Mumbai Indians as a squad have always been good but it strengthened much more with these two inclusions,” Tendulkar said on a video posted by the official Twitter handle of Mumbai Indians.
Chris Lynn has scored 1280 runs from 41 matches averaging a decent 33.6 at a staggering strike rate of 140.65. Kolkata Knight Riders left him from their squad and were picked at his base price of INR 2 crore at the auction ahead of the 2020 season by Mumbai Indians.
Nathan Counter Nile on the other hand has been brilliant as he picked up 36 wickets from 26 matches averaging only 19.97. Mumbai Indians had to fight a long bidding war to regain the services of this Australian all-rounder and paid a whopping 8 crore to acquire his services. He had not played IPL since 2017 though.
Sachin Tendulkar: Both Mumbai Indians And Chennai Super Kings Are Extremely Competitive
Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have met each other 28 times with Mumbai winning 17 and Chennai managing to win 11. Mumbai Indians won all the matches including the final in 2019.
“For any tournament to succeed you need rivalries. Mumbai Indians, as well as Chennai Super Kings, have a very very strong fan base. Both are extremely competitive. There have been occasions where you know Mumbai Indians were pushed badly in a corner and we’ve been able to pull through and win that game and the same thing has happened also with Chennai Super Kings.
Pollard In blue and Bravo in yellow
It makes that competition unpredictable and when there is an element of unpredictability people get glued to the television sets that is the beauty of any sport. But when it’s played at the highest level and so fiercely competitive people like to see that and this year also it’s not going to be any different,” he added.
The two teams met in Dubai during the 2014 IPL when IPL was jointly hosted by India and UAE due to elections. CSK won by seven wickets riding on Brendon McCullum’s unbeaten 71 and pacer Mohit Sharma’s four-wicket haul. The opposition skipper Rohit Sharma had also scored a half-century but ended up on the losing side.
Mumbai Indian’s West Indian star Trinidadian Kieron Pollard could be a threat for Chennai Super Kings as he has scored 449 runs at a strike rate of 167.53 and an average of 34.53 against CSK. He has also claimed 12 wickets in encounters featuring the two teams.
Meanwhile, his national teammate and CSK all-rounder Dwayne Bravo could be a tricky customer for Mumbai Indians, his former team, as he has taken 28 wickets at an average of 19.25 and a strike rate of 14.4 against the outfit. He also has amassed 281 runs versus Mumbai Indians.
