IPL 2019: 3 middle-order players who could be used as openers in this season

The 12th edition of Indian Premier League is less than a week away. After a huge buzz surrounding the schedule and venues of the event, the Board of Control for Cricket in India finally released the full schedule of the tournament today. The tournament will be played entirely in India with each team playing seven home and seven away matches.

Every season is bound to bring us lots of new talents, surprises, memories, entertainment, and high-quality cricket. Last year, we witnessed several brilliant knocks from players like Ambati Rayudu, Jos Buttler, and Suryakumar Yadav who were promoted as openers by their corresponding franchises. Just like last season, we can expect some more middle-order players being pushed at the top of the order in this season.

Among them, let us look at three players who can open the batting for their franchise in this season.

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#3 Moeen Ali

Moeen Ali can be used as an opener in the initial games

Moeen Ali made his IPL debut last year as he represented Royal Challengers Bangalore. In five matches, he scored 77 runs with 65 of them coming in a single game against Sunrisers Hyderabad. With the ball, he took three wickets with an economy rate of 7.36. Despite his unimpressive performances, the Bangalore franchise decided to retain him for the upcoming season of IPL.

Though Ali predominantly plays lower down the order for his national team, he opens the batting for his county team, Worcestershire. Even in the Vitality Blast 2018, he cracked 334 runs from eight innings with an explosive strike rate of 175.78. He also scored his maiden T20 century in that season.

With Virat Kohli batting at No.3, followed by AB de Villiers and Shimron Hetmyer, RCB’s middle-order looks very strong and explosive. Hence, they will expect their opening combination to lay a perfect platform for them to set a huge score or chase down the target.

With Parthiv Patel being one of the openers, Moeen Ali can be used as another opener in the initial games. Even in one of the games in last year’s IPL, Ali opened the batting for RCB. However, he managed to score only one run in that game. Since there are no other experienced openers available in the initial games, Ali can be given a free licence at the top of the order.

#2 Marcus Stoinis

Marcus Stoinis will represent RCB in this year's IPL

Before the IPL 2019 auction, Kings XI Punjab made a bizarre move by trading Marcus Stoinis to Royal Challengers Bangalore in the pursuit of Mandeep Singh. Though Stoinis did not have an exceptional IPL career, he has been in good form in the recent 3-4 months. Since this year’s IPL auction preceded the latest edition of Big Bash League 2018-19, the franchise could have decided to trade him for a middle-order Indian player.

In BBL 2018-19, Stoinis scored 533 runs 13 innings with an impressive average of 53.30 and four half-centuries. With the ball, he claimed 14 wickets from 11 innings with the best figures of 4/21. Though he batted in the middle-order for Melbourne Stars in the initial games, he became an opener during the middle stages of the tournament and played a pivotal role in guiding his team to the final.

Stoinis will miss the first few IPL game, as he will be busy on national duty for Australia. Once he returns, he will most probably be picked in the playing XI and can open the batting for RCB. As an additional note, Stoinis had already opened a handful of IPL games for KXIP.

#1 Ben Cutting

Ben Cutting's opening option will be a welcome headache for Mumbai Indians

Unlike the other two players in the list, Ben Cutting has never opened the innings in his IPL career. Cutting started his IPL journey with Kings XI Punjab as he was signed as a replacement player for injured Stuart Broad during IPL 2012. Though the Punjab franchise retained him for IPL 2013, he warmed the bench for both the seasons.

Later, Rajasthan Royals bought him for ₹80 lakh during the IPL 2014 auction. In his two-year stay with RR, he managed to play only a solitary game. Then, he represented Sunrisers Hyderabad for two consecutive seasons (2016-2017) before joining the Mumbai Indians during IPL 2018.

Cutting’s most significant IPL moment came during his time with the Hyderabad franchise as he was awarded the Man of the Match in the IPL 2016 final. His quick-fire 39 runs from 15 balls during the end-overs of first innings and two wickets (which included the all-important wicket of Chris Gayle who scored 76 runs from 38 balls) in the second innings played a massive factor in SRH claiming their maiden IPL trophy. However, he failed to set the stage on fire for Mumbai Indians in IPL 2018.

Nevertheless, Cutting is coming off from a decent T20 form in the past six months. He performed exceptionally well for Nangarhar Leopards in the inaugural edition of Afghanistan Premier League.

Later during the final stages of Big Bash League 2018-19, he opened the batting for Brisbane Heat as Brendon McCullum opted to bat at No.3. In Brisbane’s final match of the season, Cutting smashed 81 runs from 30 balls with a massive strike rate of 270.00.

With Quinton de Kock and Evin Lewis already competing for the opening spot, an added advantage of bowling option can work in favor for the Australian all-rounder. These multiple opening options will be a welcome headache for Mumbai Indians.