In this edition of the Indian Premier League, the team that has the frontline Indian seamers in the squad will benefit more. Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad are such teams. While Mumbai will profit from Jaspreet Bumrah, SRH will reap glibly from the presence of experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar and the T20 specialist T. Natarajan. These seamers are in quite a good form. Rest, Siddharth Kaul has also done well in domestic cricket.
Apart from Bumrah, Mumbai Indians have foreign speedsters Trent Boult and Nathan Coulter-Nile in their squad. While Bolt has a very good swing, the positive thing about Coulter-Nile is that he can resort to power-hitting in the lower order. As far as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) is concerned, I have high hopes from Mohammed Siraj. He can take good advantage of the swing. Nevertheless, Navdeep Saini, who only has pace at his disposal, may prove expensive.
In Chennai’s squad, there is no fast bowler except Deepak Chahar whom the skipper will rely hugely upon. Bravo and Sam are all-rounders, and this team may look like struggling on the fast bowling front.
Rajasthan Royals will miss Jofra Archer. This attack is very much dependent on Mustafizur Rehman and Ben Stokes. Jaydev Unadkat’s performance lacks consistency. On the fast bowling front, this team is also seen struggling. Punjab Kings have bought Riley Meredith at a very expensive price, despite we haven’t seen him playing a lot of cricket recently, however, all the eyes will remain fixated on the expensive speedster.
If Mohammed Shami is fit, he can prove to be a great strength for RCB. It would not be appropriate to rely too much on the rest of the players like Arshadeep. Chris Jordan’s performance will certainly be watched by everyone as he has been continuously playing for England in the T20Is. In KKR, Pat Cummins and P. Krishna are genuine pacers. Moreover, I think Lockie Ferguson will play few matches.
Delhi Capitals’ hopes are set on Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje. Bowling with both foreign players means the balance of the team suffers. Maybe, both of them will play by rotation.I don`t think that Ishant Sharma will get a berth in the playing XI. Umesh Yadav has also joined this team. Apart from being experienced, he is getting into the rhythm.
Writer is a former India fast bowler and a cricket expert