With the Indian Premier League's (IPL 2021) new season all set to begin from April 9, legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar believes defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will be hard to beat.
The former cricketer made this statement after numerous MI players made impactful contributions during the limited-overs leg of England's tour of India.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav had made their debut in the T20I series. While Kishan smashed 60 runs in 2 matches as he missed the last two games due to a groin injury. Suryakumar Yadav, on the other hand, scored 89 runs in the three games he played.
"Mumbai Indians will be hard to beat. We have just seen their players coming to form. Ishan Kishan, Suryakunar Yadav – the way they have batted. Hardik Pandya – the way he has come today," Gavaskar said, Hindustan Times reported.
The Pandya brothers - Krunal and Hardik - also helped India in the ODI series. Krunal had made his debut in white-ball cricket and in the first game, smashed the fastest-ever fifty on debut in ODIs. Hardik too made 86 runs in 5 matches in the T20Is but scored 100 runs in 3 ODIs.
Talking about Hardik's full fitness, Gavaskar said: "Not just for Mumbai Indians, it was important for Indian cricket to see Pandya bowl 9 overs. That shows that he is ready to play in the Test format as well. It's [the WTC final] in June, there is still time. But the way he’s come back… that is very very good for Mumbai Indians as well as India cricket.
"So, Mumbai Indian players who have participated in the T20I and the ODI series, have shown that they have been in very good form. You saw Chahal being hammered, you saw Kuldeep being hammered… There is no Rajasthan Royals in the Indian team. So, I don’t know what kind of performance they gonna put up."
As for the IPL clash, the five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) begin their campaign against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the season opener on April 9 in Chennai.
