IPL 2020: Rating the openers of all the eight teams

The fans are eagerly waiting for the IPL to start this weekend, after a much-anticipated wait. Mumbai Indians shall take on Chennai Super Kings in the season opener on 19th September, starting 7:30 PM IST. One of the key aspects of a strong team is their opening combination. They come in the PowerPlay overs, where the bowling side has fielding restrictions. The batsmen who can make use of these first six overs are the ones who eventually end up succeeding with their willow. Most teams have a good opening pair this time, with a good blend of veterans, current superstars and upcoming starlets. It shall be interesting to see who ends up using the conditions on offer most effectively. Here’s the list: 8. Delhi Capitals- Prithwi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan (8/10) Prithvi Shaw. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS) Delhi Capitals have a good blend of youth and experience with this pair. With backups like Ajinkya Rahane and Marcus Stoinis in their ranks, they are covered in this aspect. Shaw scored over 350 runs last year at a strike rate of 134. He has provided Delhi quick starts in the Powerplay overs. Dhawan scored 521 runs at a similar strike rate. This ensured that Delhi Capitals consistently got good starts throughout the tournament. Delhi got Rahane this season after a trade with Rajasthan Royals. He could be extremely handy on the spinner friendly tracks of UAE with his experience. Stoinis also had an excellent season with the bat in the Big Bash League as an opener, scoring 533 runs with the highest score of 147*. 7. Kolkata Knight Riders- Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine (8/10) Shubman Gill. (Photo Source: Twitter) KKR are most likely to start with Shubman Gill and Sunil Narine as the opening pair. This would provide Knight Riders with the left-right combination at the top of their batting order. Kolkata also purchased Tom Banton in the auction, who has lit up T20 leagues across the globe with his explosive batting. However, he is still untested on slower wickets, and it shall be interesting to see his approach when he gets a game. Both Narine and Banton hold the ability to fire off right from the start. KKR can also utilize the services of Rahul Tripathi if Narine isn’t effective enough as an opener. He has been a part of the IPL for nearly five years now. 6. Rajasthan Royals- Robin Uthappa and Jos Butler (8.5/10) Rajasthan Royals’ Jos Buttler. (Photo Source: Surjeet Yadav/IANS) Rajasthan Royals have one of the leading white-ball batsmen in the world, Jos Butler. RR will look to open the innings with Buttler and the experienced Robin Uthappa, who struggled to get going in the previous two editions of the cash-rich league. Jos Butler has done extremely well the past year, especially as an opener. He won the Man of the Series in the T20I series against Australia this month. Royals have the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Manan Vohra or Sanju Samson to open the innings. Yashasvi Jaiswal is an exciting young prospect who proved his mettle in the recent Under-19 World Cup. Sanju Samson has also batted in the top order in T20 cricket. Vohra, who is an experienced customer in the league, has barely played in the past couple of seasons. He would also be looking to break into the playing XI this year. 5. Kings XI Punjab- KL Rahul, Chris Gayle (8.5/10) Chris Gayle and Lokesh Rahul of Kings XI Punjab. (Photo by Kuntal Chakrabarty/IANS) Kings XI Punjab have the deadly opening combination of Chris Gayle and KL Rahul. On current form, Rahul is one of the best T20 players in the world. The duo has the ability to be highly destructive on their day. Punjab also has Mayank Agarwal as a reserve opener, who will most likely bat at number 3 position. He can move up the order when the situation demands so. The Punjab franchise is one of the favourites to clinch the trophy this season. With these lethal batsmen in the ranks as openers, opposition sides would be looking out for themselves when they are up against the Punjab side. 4. Chennai Super Kings- Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis (8.5/10) Faf du Plessis & Shane Watson. (Photo Source: Twitter) After last year’s success in the crunch games, the experienced pair of Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis will most likely open the batting this season. However, one major cause of concern that both players might face is a lack of game-time. Both of them haven’t played a lot of cricket post last year’s IPL. It shall be interesting to see how the pair performs in the spinner-friendly wickets of UAE. CSK has reserve openers like Ambati Rayudu, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Murali Vijay, who could very likely get a game in case there is an injury or a loss of form for the primary options. 3. Mumbai Indians- Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock (9/10) Rohit Sharma. (Photo: IANS) Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock gave Mumbai Indians consistent starts throughout the season last year. They purchased Chris Lynn this year in the auction at a base price. Sharma hasn’t had a mammoth season in the IPL with the bat for a long time now. De Kock had a great season last year, scoring over 500 runs and being one of the most successful openers of the series. De Kock and Sharma are most likely going to start as openers for the playing XI. Chris Lynn has not been in the best of form lately, scoring 73 runs from 6 innings in the Caribbean Premier League. 2. Royal Challengers Bangalore- Virat Kohli, Aaron Finch (9/10) Virat Kohli. (Photo: IANS) The addition of Aaron Finch to the Challengers could prove to be a welcome move for them. With other reserve openers like Parthiv Patel, Devdutt Padikkal and Josh Phillipe, RCB can potentially have one of the most explosive opening pairs this season. Finch last played in the IPL in 2018, where he had a terrible time with the Kings XI, scoring a paltry 134 runs from 9 innings. However, he is 3rd on the ICC Men’s T20I rankings, and has been consistent for his national side. Virat Kohli does not need an introduction. He has been the most consistent batsman for RCB and has performed the best as an opener. Parthiv Patel could also open with Finch if RCB wants to shift Kohli to 3 for strengthening the middle order. He has been a consistent customer for the Bangalore side the past 3 years, scoring 921 runs at a strike rate in excess of 137. Padikkal lit up the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament, scoring 580 runs in 12 innings at a strike rate of 175.74. Phillipe also scored 487 runs this year in the BBL in 16 innings. 1. Sunrisers Hyderabad- David Warner, Jonny Bairstow (9.5/10) David Warner & Jonny Bairstow. (Photo Source: Twitter) The prolific batting pair of Warner and Bairstow is by far the strongest in the tournament. They also have Kane Williamson and Wriddhiman Saha as potential openers in the reserves. Bairstow had an excellent season with the bat last year, while Warner was the Orange Cap holder after his comeback post the ban. Bairstow was also the leading run-scorer in the ODI Series against Australia this month. Williamson can be an effective replacement as an opener, given that he is an excellent player of spin bowling. Saha can also act as effective replacement for Bairstow both as an opener and with the gloves, if they SRH decide to include both Williamson and Nabi in the same team. ~Written by Shayan Khan

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IPL 2020: Rating the openers of all the eight teams

Most teams have a good opening pair this time, with a good blend of veterans, current superstars and upcoming starlets. It shall be interesting to see who ends up using the conditions on offer most effectively.

7. Kolkata Knight Riders- Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine (8/10)

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