The IPL 2020 season, the 13th edition of the cash-rich cricket league is kicking off on 19th September in the United Arab Emirates, and the inaugural match is between defending champions Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings to be hosted at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians have been the champion of IPL four times, (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019). Coached by former Sri Lankan cricket stalwart Mahela Jayawardene, MI has the heavyweight names such as Jasprit Bumrah, Chris Lynn, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard and more in their line up, lead by the ‘Hitman’ Rohit Sharma.
Full squad: Anmolpreet Singh, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Quinton de Kock, Digvijay Deshmukh, Ishan Kishan, Dhawal Kulkarni, Chris Lynn, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mohsin Khan, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson, Kieron Pollard, Prince Balwant Rai, Anukul Roy, Sherfane Rutherford, Rohit Sharma (c), Aditya Tare, Saurabh Tiwary, Jayant Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav.
Chennai Super Kings
Three-time IPL winners Chennai Super Kings (2010, 2011, 2018) finished as runner ups last year. The team is coached by former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming and with the leadership of former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, CSK’s star-studded lineup features the likes of Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Ravindra Jadeja, Shane Watson and more.
Full squad: KM Asif, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Piyush Chawla, Sam Curran, MS Dhoni (c), Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Josh Hazlewood, Imran Tahir, Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, Narayan Jagadeesan, Monu Kumar, Lungi Ngidi, Ambati Rayudu, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mitchell Santner, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Murali Vijay, Shane Watson.
Waging odds: Mumbai Indians (1.72) vs Chennai Super Kings (2.05)
Mumbai Indians are the waging favourites and are priced at 1.72, meaning if you bet ₹100 on them and if they win the match, you’ll be making ₹172.
Chennai Super Kings are priced at 2.05 and are the underdogs. Betting ₹100 on them will earn you ₹205 if they come out as winners.
Our prediction:
Both the teams are starting off IPL 2020 with the absence of their star performers. While Mumbai has seen the departure of Lasith Malinga, Chennai suffered twice the damage as both Harbhajan Singh and vice-captain Suresh Raina decided to exit ahead of the tournament.
The match on Saturday is a repetition of the 2019 IPL final, which was a neck to neck battle between the teams as MI clinched a narrow victory by just one run. While Chennai Super Kings leave no space for an underestimation, its Mumbai Indians who will begin the IPL 2020 with a victory.
Place your bets for the match here.
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