IPL 2022: Mumbai Indians Won't Be Very Happy Playing Tough Teams Twice, Says Aakash Chopra

Cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra said that five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians won’t be happy with their group opponents for IPL 2022.

With the addition of two new teams in the next edition of the Indian Premier League, the BCCI has ensured each team will continue to play 14 league matches, which has been the trend over the years. The 10 teams were virtually divided into two groups- with each team playing five teams twice and once against the remaining four teams.

Mumbai Indians-Chennai Super Kings to play each other twice in IPL 2022

Mumbai Indians (MI), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Rajasthan Royals (RR), Delhi Capitals (DC) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are clubbed in Group A. Defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Gujarat Titans were drawn in the same group.

Teams, which were placed in the same column as Group A and Group B, will also play each other twice in the league stage of IPL 2022. The groups were determined by the number of IPL titles and IPL final appearances by a team.

Group A      Group B

MI                 CSK

KKR              SRH

RR                RCB

DC                PBKS

LPSG           GT

Chopra, who played seven IPL matches for KKR in the first two seasons of the tournament, said Mumbai will play all the tough teams twice and SRH will play easy teams on a couple of instances.

“Mumbai will be playing against Kolkata, Rajasthan, DC, Lucknow twice. They will also play two times against CSK. They will play all the tough teams two times, but play only once against Sunrisers, RCB, Punjab and Gujarat Titans. I think they won’t be very happy.

“Look at Hyderabad, they will be playing two times against Kolkata (from group A) and play once against Mumbai, DC, Rajasthan and Lucknow. So they will be playing the tough teams only once, so win or lose it doesn’t matter much. Group A is going to be the tough one,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel. 

Not necessary that top teams from each group will make the playoffs: Aakash Chopra

Talking about the latest IPL groups, which is similar to that of IPL 2011, Chopra termed it better than the World Cup.

“It is not like that top teams from each group will make the playoffs. The top four will be decided based on the points gained from all the 14 matches that they play because every team is going to play at least once against each other.

“That is why I find this system better than World Cup’s, although it still isn’t the ideal one,” Chopra commented. 

IPL 2022 will kick off on March 26 and conclude on May 29 with 70 league matches that will be held in the Maharashtra cities of Mumbai and Pune.

Also Read: IPL 2022: First Choice Seven Indian Players Of Mumbai Indians (MI) For The Tournament