Four epic duels between Indian cricketers to watch out for this IPL

The IPL, over the years, has not only served as a financial fillip for world cricket, it has also led to the greats of the game from all over the world to share the dressing room with each other, which has reduced the animosity that existed prior to the lucrative T20 league.

Another thing that the IPL does is that it stacks fellow countrymen against each other and a pulsating rivalry ensues with both cricketers vying for the elusive bragging rights.

The 2018 edition of the IPL promises to be no different to the aforementioned fact with a plethora of mouth-watering clashes up for grabs. Here’s a look at four duels between Indian cricketers to look out for in IPL 2018.

---

#4 Rohit Sharma & Yuzvendra Chahal

Chahal vs Rohit will be something to watch out for this season

A duel to look forward to in this year's IPL is between Rohit Sharma and Yuzvendra Chahal.

The Mumbai Indians skipper is a fierce striker of a cricket ball, especially against the spinners but he'll be up against a Chahal who has a massive heart when it comes to tossing the ball up to a batsman.

Chahal, while bowling on a ground as small as the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, has developed into a perfect limited overs cricket bowler, deceiving the batsmen with his guile and loop, and is not afraid to be carted around for runs. It will be certainly interesting to see how the young leggie fares against Rohit.

#3 Suresh Raina & Ravichandran Ashwin

The former CSK teammates will be at loggerheads this IPL

Both of these names have shared the same dressing room for the better part of first ten years of the IPL with both having played an important part in building the brand that CSK is today.

The eleventh edition of the IPL promises to be different as Ravichandran Ashwin, who was bought by the Preity Zinta-owned franchise for Rs 7.6 crores, will lead the Kings XI Punjab, while Raina will once again don the yellow jersey of the Chennai Super Kings as the franchise aims to re-establish itself after a two-year sabbatical.

This means Raina would be up against the vile of Ashwin. It is important to note the sub-plots that would make this rivalry or duel particularly intriguing. Raina is one of the best batsmen of spinners in the world and his pristine eye and understanding of the different variations that a bowler can bowl, makes him a hard nut to crack.

On the other hand Ashwin, who along with a plethora of guile and experience, has numerous tricks in the arsenal to fox the batsmen. Also, with Ashwin aiming to try his hand at leg-spin this time around, the battle between Raina and the spinner promises to be a mouth-watering affair.

#2 MS Dhoni & Kuldeep Yadav

The master tactician of spin bowling vs the prodigy

MS Dhoni is a master-tactician when it comes to playing or captaining the spinners and has truckloads of experience behind him while adjusting to numerous conditions. This IPL, it’d be interesting to see how the former Indian skipper fares against the newest spinning sensation, the left-arm chinaman Kuldeep Yadav.

Kuldeep and Dhoni have been involved in numerous duels in the IPL, the most prominent being the one in 2016 when KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir employed an umbrella field for Dhoni with silly-point, short-leg and two slips surrounding the former Indian skipper. Kuldeep, with his guile and variations, had Dhoni in all sorts of problem and the latter hobbled his way for a painstaking eight off 22 balls.

Kuldeep, who has had a fantastic start to his international career, has himself credited Dhoni for his growth as a spinner, and it’d be interesting to see how the duel pans out this time with MS having returned to his den again.

#1 Virat Kohli & Jasprit Bumrah

Bumrah's maiden T20 wicket in IPL was Virat Kohli

Jasprit‘s Bumrah‘s rise through the ranks remains one of the fascinating stories of the IPL. Initially spotted for his unorthodox action that bore resemblance with Lasith Malinga, Bumrah was picked by the Mumbai Indians for the 2013 season. Bumrah gauged an instant impact when he trapped India’s superstar Virat Kohli leg-before-wicket to scalp his maiden T20 wicket.

Bumrah has grown leaps and bounds in the five years that followed by developing a plethora of skills in his arsenal and has established himself as a first-choice bowler for India across formats. Five years down the line, Bumrah who was retained by the Mumbai Indians will resume his rivalry with Kohli and with numerous tricks up his sleeves, he’d be hoping to achieve bragging rights against the Indian captain, again.