IPL 2021: Brad Hogg Picks Mumbai Indians Starting XI Ahead Of The 14th Season

Former Australian leg-spinner Brad Hogg has picked the starting XI of defending champions Mumbai Indians ahead of the 14th season of the Indian Premier League.

One of the biggest reasons behind Mumbai Indians sustained dominance in the past few years is that each and every player knows his role.

As always, opening the innings will be the duo of Rohit Sharma and South African wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock, who consistently gave brilliant starts to the five-time champions in IPL 2020.

Following De Kock and Rohit will be the duo of Suryakumar Yadava and Ishan Kishan. While Suryakumar Yadav has been a consistent performer for MI since 2018, Ishan Kishan had a breakout season last year where he smashed 516 runs.

With both SKY and Ishan dazzling in their recent T20I debut, Brad Hogg reckoned that the duo will come into this years’ IPL with even more confidence. The former Australian cricketer termed Mumbai Indians’ top-4 as the best among all teams.

”They will have Rohit Sharma and De Kock opening the batting. They both complement each other. Rohit Sharma will be a bit more conservative trying to bat the maximum number of overs. De Kock, his role will be to get the momentum, get off to a good start in the powerplay.” said Brad Hogg on his official Youtube channel.

”Then you have got Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan coming in at 3 and 4. Both have just got a little bit of international experience and they would be better for that as well,” Brad Hogg said.

Following a solid top-4 are the power-hitters in Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, and Krunal Pandya. The trio was absolutely brilliant in the last season and the way they unleashed an attack on the opposition bowlers in the last five overs was enthralling to say the least. Mumbai Indians were the most destructive batting unit in the last five overs and that is where, Brad Hogg, believes they took the competition away.

”Kieron Pollard at 5, Hardik Pandya at 6, and Krunal Pandya at 7 – the powerhouse of this team. Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya had a strike rate of over 200 in the last five overs. That is where they took the competition away,” said Hogg.

As far the bowling is concerned, the duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult will once again lead the pace-bowling attack. Hogg picked Nathan Coulter-Nile, who had an underwhelming season last year, as the third pacer.

As far as a spinner is concerned, Brad Hogg picked the experienced campaigner in Piyush Chawla ahead of Rahul Chahar.

”Nathan Coulter-Nile will come in at 8. He can be handy with the bat as well. I think Piyush Chawla will be in the starting XI. He is the third leading wicket-taker in the competition and will add wicket-taking depth, with Boult and Bumrah at the other end,” Brad Hogg opined.

Also Read- IPL 2021: Aakash Chopra Suggests Kolkata Knight Riders To Drop Sunil Narine If Things Don’t Work Out

Mumbai Indians’ starting XI as picked by Brad Hogg-

Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah.