IPL 2020: Two unpopular decisions Mumbai Indians could make

We have ourselves an official date for the beginning of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League. IPL 2020 will have more stakes than ever because of the ICC T20 World Cup that will be played in October this year.

Here we are going to talk about the most successful team ever in the IPL and the defending champions - Mumbai Indians (MI). Led by Rohit Sharma, MI has become a well-oiled machine that performs consistently. They have won four the last eight IPL seasons and currently, they are showing no signs of stopping.

In the IPL 2020 auctions, they certainly didn't need many players but the ones they bought have clearly improved their squad as a whole. The signings of Chris Lynn and Nathan Coulter-Nile stand out, as does the trading of Trent Boult from Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2020 trade window.

With such a brilliant squad, head coach Mahela Jayawardene will have many decisions to make and here we take a look at the two unpopular decisions MI could make this year.

Quinton de Kock dropped for Chris Lynn from the very start

Quinton de Kock was brilliant for MI last season

Now that Mumbai Indians have signed Chris Lynn, the competition for the opening spot just went up a notch. Last season, Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock opened for MI from the start but one can see a change happening in that regard.

Chris Lynn is the kind of batsman who is tailor-made for conditions at the Wankhede Stadium, that is pace, bounce, and the ball coming onto the bat. Lynn can be dangerous up top and quite dropping de Kock for Lynn is a possibility.

Also see – IPL Players List

MI have a good wicket-keeper in the form of Ishan Kishan, so they can afford dropping de Kock. The reason why this is an unpopular decision is that de Kock scored more than 500 runs for MI in 2019 and not one MI fan would be even thinking of a starting XI without him. But this is something that can definitely happen.

Rohit Sharma playing in the middle-order

The MI skipper might drop down the order

This is another decision that Mumbai Indians could easily make because we have seen them taking this step for quite a few years now. MI could quite easily let Suryakumar Yadav or Ishan Kishan open the batting and drop Rohit Sharma down to one down or two down.

MI have certain stability when he bats in the middle order as the Mumbai franchise have won three out of their four IPL titles when the Indian vice-captain has batted there. The reason why this is an unpopular decision is that Sharma has had arguably his best year as an opener in 2019. But that would not make the MI captain put his team's needs over his and that is what makes him a good captain.