'Mumbai Indians have a weak link in...' - Aakash Chopra's huge claim ahead of IPL 2024

Former India National Cricket Team opening batsman Aakash Chopra has highlighted a weak link in the Mumbai Indians (MI) ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

The 5-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions will be playing under a new captain in the upcoming season of the cash-rich league. All-rounder Hardik Pandya will be leading the side after taking over the reins from Rohit Sharma, who guided the franchise to 5 titles after taking over the leadership in 2013.

Hardik Pandya also has a fair share of leadership success in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as he guided the newcomers Gujarat Titans to the championship in his maiden stint as captain and in the 2023 season he led the team to the final, eventually losing against the MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Meanwhile, Aakash Chopra shared his views on the Mumbai Indians’ (MI) spin-bowling department heading into the Indian Premier League 2024. He stated that the spin-bowling unit of the Hardik Pandya-led team doesn’t have ‘that much might’ and it is their weak link.

“Mumbai’s spin does not have that much might. I will be very honest. They have Piyush Chawla and Kumar Kartikeya for sure. You might see a few other names as well like Shams Mulani, but they have a weak link in spin,” he said.

MI have the likes of Piyush Chawla, Mohammad Nabi, Kumar Kartikeya, Shams Mulani, and Shreyas Gopal as spinners in the squad. The veteran Piyush Chawla had a huge success in the previous edition of the tournament for Mumbai Indians as he bagged 22 wickets at an economy rate of 8.11 in 16 games.

They were probably thinking of taking Wanindu Hasaranga – Aakash Chopra

Chopra further opined that Sri Lanka spin-bowling all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga would have been on Mumbai Indians’ radar but they weren’t able to acquire him due to auction dynamics and the spinner was roped in by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

“They were probably thinking of taking Wanindu Hasaranga but his name didn’t come when it should have come in the auction. So they went towards fast bowlers and Hasaranga went towards (SunRisers) Hyderabad. So Mumbai’s spin bowling is on the weaker side,” Chopra added.

The cricketer-turned-commentator also spoke about the spin-bowling department of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in his video. Aakash Chopra lauded Ravi Bishnoi and Amit Mishra, saying that they are four-over banks for the KL Rahul-led team. He also shared his opinion on Krunal Pandya and said that the spinner might not be very effective.

“Lucknow Super Giants have two very good spinners in the form of Ravi Bishnoi and Amit Mishra. Both are four-over banks. Amit Mishra for the middle overs and Ravi Bishnoi bowls with the new ball as well,” he said.

“Then they have Krishnappa Gowtham and Krunal Pandya. The Lucknow wicket has changed now. Krunal’s game has been slightly conditions-applied. He bowls four overs for close to 20 runs when there is a lot of help from the pitch. He bowls only three overs when the pitch is extremely flat,” the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

The IPL 2024 schedule has been partially announced by the BCCI for the first 15 days and the league is set to begin on March 22.