After a long wait, too many speculations, discussions, and some excellent planning, UAE will be hosting IPL 2020 from Saturday, 19 September. The defending champions Mumbai Indians will lock horns with the Chennai Super Kings in Abu Dhabi.in the opening game of the tournament.
Ahead of the blockbuster event, some of the former cricketers, commentators, and cricket experts predicted which four teams are most likely to go into the playoff stage. While everybody had a free choice to pick their teams, the Mumbai Indians were on everybody's list.
In a video by ESPNCricInfo, Sanjay Manjrekar, Ian Bishop, Deep Dasgupta, Gautam Gambhir, Tom Moody, Ajit Agarkar, and Aakash Chopra were seen listing out their favorites to qualify for the playoffs in IPL 13.
Here is the video:
Which four teams will reach the #IPL2020 playoffs? https://t.co/7BFllt14WP@GautamGambhir, @sanjaymanjrekar, @irbishi, @cricketaakash, @imAagarkar, @deepdasgupta7 and @TomMoodyCricket with their predictions ???????? pic.twitter.com/fZAZiMdOYV
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) September 18, 2020
The Mumbai Indians have already won the IPL four times and will be looking forward to winning their fifth trophy. On the other hand, Kings XI Punjab, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and the Delhi Capitals will be searching for their first-ever title win.
The IPL will be held in Dubai and Sharjah too, apart from Abu Dhabi, where the mega event will kick off. The final will be played 53 days later, on 10 November at a venue which is yet to be finalized by the BCCI.