Finally, the moment will arrive on November 10, 2020, Tuesday when the IPL 2020 final will see Mumbai Indians (MI) defending their crown against first-time finalists Delhi Capitals (DC) in Dubai. The match will begin at 7.30 PM IST.
The whole tournament has been about the dominance of MI and how good DC has become since IPL 2019.
Both the teams boast of perhaps one of the most perfect playing XIs, they could have hoped for. Amazing openers, talented and dangerous middle order, gun finishers at the end. Quality spinners of both kind- wrist and finger, couple with true fast bowlers have given us a spectacle worthy of the final of a tournament of the stature of the Indian Premier League season 13.
Check out the Predicted Playing XIs of the MI v DC, IPL 2020 final
MUMBAI INDIANS (MI)
Whatever can be said about this Mumbai Indians team is less. They have been ruthless in their execution of plans and even when skipper Rohit Sharma was injured and missed few games, the MI team didn’t miss a single beat and continued on their path of dominance in this tournament.
Now they stand on the verge of becoming only the second team to defend their IPL title after the Chennai Super Kings, who did it by winning twice in 2010 and 2011.
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Though Rohit Sharma has not fired as expected in the IPL 13, his lackluster returns have been compensated by his opening partner Quinton de Kock. Both have tried to maximize the benefits of the powerplay and have succeeded in doing so, more often than not.
Then the middle order comes into play which has Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan going great guns throughout the IPL 2020. Both have scored huge runs and at a good speed as well, laying great platforms for the finishing touches by three of the most dangerous finishers in the game today.
Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, and even Krunal Pandya have left their mark on the IPL with the bat. Hardik and Pollard in particular have damaged many bowling attacks, a display of which came in Qualifier 1 against DC when Hardik and Kishan took MI’s score to 200 despite there being no signs of the team reaching that total.
MI have probably the most effective fast bowling units, rivaled only by DC. Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, James Pattinson, and Nathan Coulter-Nile have done wonders, but Bumrah and Boult have been the stars here. Bumrah with the old ball in the death and Boult with the new ball in the powerplays have been deadly.
They have received great support from Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya in the middle overs as well, as the duo picked wickets apart from building pressure on the opposition batsman.
It will be a great clash to see which bowling unit comes out the winner in this title clash.
DELHI CAPITALS (DC)
Perhaps the most improved and impressive team in the last 2 years of the Indian Premier League, the Delhi Capitals will play their first-ever IPL final on November 10, Tuesday. It has been a long journey for them, especially after Shreyas Iyer was named captain midway in IPL 2018.
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Since then, through trial and error, DC has formed a formidable unit that has outclassed and outlasted some of the best teams in the IPL 13 and has reached the finals. One of the main reasons has been the form of Shikhar Dhawan, who has given them a good start in powerplays, and their choice of Marcus Stoinis as an opener should have come earlier in the tournament, given his success in BBL 9.
However, they have somehow managed to get past the non-performance from Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, and others, solely on the basis of an amazing bowling unit, of which we will talk about a bit later. Apart from Dhawan and Stoinis, only Iyer and Hetmyer have done justice to their skills, with Rishabh Pant having an offseason with both the gloves and the bat and has struggled with his fitness as well.
However, DC has thrived on its bowling unit with Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Akshar Patel, and R Ashwin forming a great combination of pace and spin to thwart even the best batting lineups in the competition. Ashwin has picked wickets in powerplays more often than not, while Akshar has kept the runs down in middle overs.
Rabada and Nortje have bowled like lightning, despite not getting much help from other pacers, except Stoinis, who has picked crucial wickets at times. Both the foreign fast bowlers have been a great asset to the DC team and their biggest hope of a maiden IPL title.
MI COC Predicted Playing XI:
Rohit Sharma (C), Quinton de Kock (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult
DC COC Predicted Playing XI:
Marcus Stoinis, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (C), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shimron Hetmyer, Akshar Patel, Praveen Dubey, R Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje
