I don’t think Mumbai Indians will be thinking of where they are playing: Parthiv Patel

Veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel feels that MI would not be concerned about playing their first few games in Chennai. He added that the team can play well on any surface and says that not playing at Wankhede won’t be much of an issue for them. Mumbai Indians (MI) are one of the prime contenders for winning the 14th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The tournament will start from April 9 to May 30. The first game will be played between Rohit Sharma-led MI and Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Ahead of the marquee event, veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel, who had recently joined MI as their talent scout, carried out a detailed analysis of the five-time champions. He stated that the Mumbai based franchise has a strong line-up. All their players, whether overseas or Indian, have been in good form lately.

BCCI to host IPL 2021 at neutral venues in order to eliminate the home advantage

This time the BCCI has opted to host the league at neutral venues in order to eliminate the home advantage. This means that no IPL team will be playing at their home grounds. Thus, MI will start their campaign in IPL 2021 with a match against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai. Speaking about the same, the former RCB batsman reckoned that some might feel that MI should play with an extra spinner in Chennai. However, the MI squad doesn’t need to make any significant changes in their playing XI while playing at different venues. The team has two additional bowling options in the form of Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya.

List of players retained

Rohit Sharma, Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (WK), Anmolpreet Singh, Aditya Tare,  Kieron Pollard, Quinton de Kock (WK), Hardik Pandya, Saurabh Tiwary, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy, Jayant Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohsin Khan.

Players bought

Nathan Coulter-Nile (Rs 5.00 crore), James Neesham (Rs 0.50 crore), Piyush Chawla (Rs 2.40 crore), Arjun Tendulkar (Rs 0.20 crore), Yudhvir Charak (Rs 0.20 crore), Adam Milne (Rs 3.20 crore), Marco Jansen (Rs 0.20 crore).

List of players released

James Pattinson, Sherfane Rutherford, Mitch McClenaghan, Lasith Malinga, Prince Balwant Rai, Digvijay Deshmukh.

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