IPL 2019, MI vs DC: Why picking Yuvraj Singh over Ishan Kishan was perfectly justified

Mumbai Indians played Delhi Capitals in their first encounter of IPL 2019 at the Wankhede yesterday.

Mumbai's lineup included eight batting options as they looked to capitalize on the home conditions. However, a mammoth total of 213 set by the Delhi Capitals turned out to be too much for them.

For Delhi, Rishabh Pant went all guns blazing and finished with 78 runs from just 27 balls. Kagiso Rabada's excellent bowling further helped the visitors' cause during the chase.

Yuvraj Singh was the only shining light for the Mumbai Indians as he looked in excellent form, striking the ball well and finishing with 53 runs on the night. But does this knock justify his selection in the lineup ahead of the in-form Ishan Kishan, who was brilliant in the domestic circuit?

Here's a look at two why Yuvraj's selection was indeed justified:

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#1 Experience in the middle order

Yuvraj brings a lot of T20 experience into the middle order. Although he has not been at his destructive best recently, we all know how dangerous Yuvraj can be when he has his eye in.

Mumbai Indians have a robust batting line-up with likes of Suryakumar Yadav, the Pandya brothers and Kieron Pollard, but they do lack that extra bit of experience in the middle. This void was filled by Yuvraj, who took charge of the middle order.

His gritty knock came up short last night as he could not help Mumbai cross the line. But seeing Yuvraj strike the ball like that would have brought plenty of delight to the management as well as cricket fans across the globe.

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#2 Ishan Kishan's performance in the previous year's IPL

Kishan is in his second year with the Mumbai Indians. He was bought in 2018, and since then, has been a regular part of the playing XI for them.

Last year, Kishan played 14 matches for MI but scored only 275 runs, which were way too few for a top order batsman. He scored his runs at an average of 22.91 and a strike rate of 149.51.

Also, with Quinton de Kock coming into the side, MI have a better wicket-keeper option then Kishan, who was not that good behind the stumps at times in last year's IPL.

Kishan will likely get a few chances in the playing XI as the season goes on. But picking Yuvraj at the start is the right option - if only to see if the veteran still has it in him to finish matches with a swagger.

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