Mumbai Indians
Defending champions Mumbai Indians will begin their campaign in the impending 13th season of the Indian Premier League against MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the IPL 2020 schedule on Sunday confirming the opener to be a repeat of the IPL 2019 final.
Mumbai Indians will play seven matches in Abu Dhabi, three in Sharjah and the remaining four in Dubai. The four-time IPL winners will only play two early matches - at 3:30 PM IST and the remainder in the evening slot.
The franchise had earlier roped in Australia’s Chris Lynn and Nathan Coulter-Nile during the December auction in Kolkata. Lynn was roped in for INR 2 crores while Coulter-Nile returned to Mumbai for INR 8 crores. Mumbai, overall, brought seven players while spending INR 11.2 crores.
Before the auction, Mumbai Indians retained players which were part of their core team from past few years like Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Jasprit Bumrah and Krunal Pandya. However, the franchise will be without Lasith Malinga in the UAE as the veteran bowler has opted out owing to "personal reasons". They have added James Pattinson as his replacement.
Mumbai Indians are the only IPL franchise to won four IPL trophies and all of them came under the leadership of Rohit Sharma, who is considered as one of sharpest brains in world cricket. They won the title in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019.
Here's Mumbai Indians' full schedule for IPL 2020...
Sept 19 - vs CSK in Abu Dhabi; 7:30 PM IST
Sept 23 - vs KKR in Abu Dhabi; 7:30 PM IST
Sept 28 - vs RCB in Dubai; 7:30 PM IST
Oct 1 - vs KXIP in Abu Dhabi; 7:30 PM IST
Oct 4 - vs SRH in Sharjah; 3:30 PM IST
Oct 6 - vs RR in Abu Dhabi; 7:30 PM IST
Oct 11 - vs DC in Abu Dhabi; 7:30 PM IST
Oct 16 - vs KKR in Abu Dhabi; 7:30 PM IST
Oct 18 - vs KXIP in Dubai; 7:30 PM IST
Oct 23 - vs CSK in Sharjah; 7:30 PM IST
Oct 25 - vs RR in Abu Dhabi; 7:30 PM IST
Oct 31 - vs DC in Dubai; 3:30 PM IST
Nov 3 - vs SRH in Sharjah; 7:30 PM IST
