Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar believes that the five-time champions Mumbai Indians will be hard to beat, thanks to the current form of their star players, in the upcoming 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 starting April 9.
As MI heads into the IPL 2021 with back-to-back two titles in 2019 and 2020, Rohit Sharma will be aiming to become the first captain in the history of the T20 league to complete a hat-trick of title wins in the lucrative T20 tournament, where they will start their campaign against RCB on April 9.
Well, the international stars of MI set-up like the skipper Rohit himself, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, and the Pandya brothers – Hardik and Krunal have found the rhythm in the recent home series against England and Gavaskar feels their form will be crucial to the franchise to start IPL as favorites.
Gavaskar told Star Sports: “I think Mumbai Indians will be hard to beat. We have seen their players coming to form. Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav, the way they batted. Mumbai Indian players who took part in this T20I series and ODI series have shown they are in good form.”
Former India captain further pointed out that Hardik is a big plus for the defending champions in the IPL 14 as the all-rounder returned to bowling in the recent white-ball series against England at home.
He signed off by saying, “The way Hardik Pandya has come to the party not just for Mumbai Indians, it was important for Indian cricket to see him bowl 9 overs. It means he is ready to play 9 overs. It (the World Test Championship final) is going to be in June, there is still time for that but the way he has come back is very good for Mumbai and Indian cricket.”
