As the intense battle to secure playoffs berth in IPL 2020 reach its peak, former India left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha named who he feels will be the final four to tussle for the ultimate supremacy in the last week in UAE.
Either side of defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI), who have qualified, and the already eliminated last year runners-up Chennai Super Kings (CSK), as many as six teams are eyeing the three spots still vacant.
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But if Ojha were to have his way, the three teams that he would love to see join MI are Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Delhi Capitals (DC) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), given they, like Rohit Sharma's MI, are led by Indian captains in Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul.
"As I’ve been saying, this has been a weird season as far as the IPL is concerned and it’s very different this year. So I’m not going with my cricketing brain [to pick the playoffs qualifying teams]. I’m going with my emotion and I want all my Indian captains to be doing well," Ojha said on Sports Today.
"So it will be MI [Mumbai Indians], obviously you know, now Pollard is leading[ in Rohit’s absence] but Rohit is the captain. Next is DC [Delhi Capitals] with Shreyas Iyer as captain, then RCB with Virat Kohli as captain, and then Kings XI Punjab led by KL Rahul," he added.
With Rohit currently injured, MI are led by Kieron Pollard. But that hasn't changed their fortunes. Also, keeping in the mind their envied standards, the team aren't expected to drop their guard and will be approaching the match on Saturday (October 31) versus DC with just as much intensity.
Iyer's DC, on the other hand, will be facing MI on the back of three straight losses after having enjoyed a fantastic first half of the competition.
“It will definitely be difficult for Delhi Capitals [to win against Mumbai Indians] because it’s all about the momentum. And when we are talking about momentum, DC have lost few games [3 games in a row] and these games were very crucial for them."
"And now they’re facing Mumbai Indians which will be a very hard team to beat as I have said that DC and MI are the two best teams in IPL 2020. It will all depend on how Shreyas Iyers leads the team as captain. I know he’ll do his part as a batsman but his leadership will be significant for DC to win against such a strong opponent," Ojha added.
