Legendary Sachin Tendulkar was all praise for Mumbai Indians (MI), Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and their rivalry that has only enriched the fans' experience watching the biggest T20 carnival, the Indian Premier League (IPL).
While Mumbai have won the IPL trophy four times, Chennai lags behind only slightly with three titles. The two teams, led wonderfully by MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma, will be up against each other once again in the opening encounter of IPL 2020 on Saturday (September 19) in Abu Dhabi.
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Tendulkar talked in great sense of anticipation of the mouth-watering contest in a video posted over Twitter via MI's official handle, stressing also the huge fanbase behind the two teams' success over the years.
“For any tournament to succeed you need rivalries. Mumbai Indians, as well as Chennai Super Kings, have a very very strong fan base. Both are extremely competitive," said the legend.
"There have been occasions where you know Mumbai Indians were pushed badly in a corner and we've been able to pull through and win that game and the same thing has happened also with Chennai Super Kings."
"It makes that competition unpredictable and when there is an element of unpredictability people get glued to the television sets that is the beauty of any sport."
"But when it's played at the highest level and so fiercely competitive people like to see that and this year also it's not going to be any different," Tendulkar added.
Tendulkar, the icon for MI, also welcomed Chris Lynn and Nathan Coulter-Nile, two fantastic T20 cricketers in either skill from Australia, to the team's camp this season. Lynn, an explosive batsman, was bought at the auction last year for INR 2 crores, while MI got Coulter-Nile, a dependable fast bowling option, for INR 8 crores. Both players are expected to only strengthen the already robust defending champions line-up.
“Chris Lynn when it comes to those explosive starts, he is tremendous. Nathan Coulter-Nile swinging the ball upfront and then bowling those death overs also chipping in with his bat," Tendulkar said.
"All in all, I think the balance is really nice of course uh Mumbai Indians as a squad have always been good but it strengthened much more with these two inclusions," he added.
