'Mumbai Indians are going to finish on top' - Brad Hogg analyzes MI squad ahead of IPL 2020

With the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League just a few days away, many former cricket players and experts have been making predictions regarding the top run-scorers, wicket-takers, table toppers and the winner of the league. The legendary Australian all-rounder Brad Hogg is one among them as these days he is busy analyzing the pros and cons of all the eight IPL franchises.

The defending champions Mumbai Indians are arguably one of the most successful teams in the history of the cash-rich league as they have registered a victory over the T20 title for four years – 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019.

Praising the Mumbai Indians squad, Hogg revealed that the Rohit Sharma-led side looks like a balanced team with quality all-rounders, spinners, pacers and batsmen in abundance. However, the former KKR bowler believes that there will be a big challenge in front of the team regarding the selection of the playing XI.

In the video posted on his YouTube channel, the chinaman bowler lauded the top-4 batsmen of the Mumbai side which includes the likes of India’s limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma, South Africa’s captain Quinton de Kock, the swashbuckling batsman Suryakumar Yadav and the Australian Stalwart Chris Lynn. Brad believes that these four batsmen are going to make a big difference and will help the team in finishing on the top of the points table.

“Mumbai Indians are going to finish on top of the regular season. Will they take out the final, let’s wait and see. The edge for the Mumbai Indians is their quality top four,” Hogg said on his YouTube channel.

“They have an abundance of all-rounders, good spinners but they have got the best pace battery in the IPL this year. The flaw for them is the selection table, what balance are they going to utilise with their overseas players to make up a prominent XI? That will be their big issue,” he added.

Standout for the Mumbai Indians is going to be Suryakumar Yadav: Brad Hogg

Further in the video, the Australian veteran made a prediction regarding one of the players in the top 5 run scorers of the 2020 edition of the Indian league. Hogg believes that the right-handed batsman Suryakumar Yadav can emerge as the surprise element of the Mumbai Indians.

“The standout for the Mumbai Indians is going to be Suryakumar Yadav. I am just thinking this quality batsman is going to come along this year. He showed progress over the last couple of years. He was really enjoying with the Mumbai Indians and he is liking his position in that middle-order. Watch out, I think he will be in the top 5 run-scorers of this particular tournament,” Hogg added.

Notably, Yadav finished as the 12th highest run-scorer in IPL 2019. The middle-order batsman accumulated 424 runs from his 15 innings. He scored these runs at a healthy strike rate of 130.86.

Here’s the video: