IPL Auction 2020: 3 players who can start a bidding war between CSK and MI 

The pre-season trade window of IPL 2020 was the buzz among the cricketing fraternity last week. As expected, several underperforming star players were released by the franchises.

With the trade window done now, it is time for the IPL 2020 auction, which will be held in Kolkata on December 19, 2019.

Even before their maiden IPL clash in 2008, the defending champions Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings began their rivalry with an intense battle in the inaugural IPL auction to secure the singing of MS Dhoni. Since then, the two teams have been part of several intense battles both on and off the field.

Just like every other season, we can expect a large number of players to participate in the upcoming IPL auction. Among them, let us look at three players who can start a bidding war between CSK and MI.

Also see - India vs West Indies schedule 2019

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#3 James Neesham

James Neesham

After a long layoff, James Neesham finally returned to the international arena at the start of the year, against Sri Lanka. Since then, the Kiwi allrounder has become one of the prominent members in the New Zealand limited-overs setup. Since all-rounders have always commanded considerable attraction at IPL auctions, we can expect a bidding war for the now in-form Neesham.

MS Dhoni almost single-handedly led CSK’s batting department last season, scoring 416 runs in 12 innings. He lacked support from the other end during the death overs. Hence we can expect CSK to buy an experienced explosive batsman to strengthen their dodgy middle order. With an added advantage of being an all-rounder, Neesham fits CSK’s plans.

With Ben Cutting being released and Hardik Pandya still recovering from injury, Mumbai Indians will look for an additional all-rounder to support Kieron Pollard. Even though Neesham cannot match the ability of Pollard, he can be a perfect back-up option for the big West Indian allrounder. Since Pollard is not young anymore, he can be rotated with Neesham during the middle stages of the tournament. Hence, we expect MI to go after Neesham in the upcoming auction.

#2 Eoin Morgan

Morgan can strike the ball fair and long

One of the better known T20 players of the modern era, England limited-overs skipper Eoin Morgan is a formidable option for any team in the middle-order. After missing the IPL for the past two seasons, Morgan will this time hope to get a bid in the world's most lucrative T20 league in the auction.

The left handed batsman might also witness a bidding war for himself between two of IPL's most talked-about teams in the league in CSK and MI. Morgan possesses adaptive skills to play according to the situation of the game. He can attack and even bat at a nominal pace of the game.

Mumbai Indians, who struggled to find an experienced campaigner in their middle-order in IPL 2019, might feel interested to bid for Morgan as one of their overseas recruits for the next season. He can give them an option to attack even in the middle-overs and can also be used as a floater after a great start.

Just like MI, the 33-year-old might add immense value to CSK's struggling batting order from the last season. The Chennai-based franchise might feature a similar order and is likely to cope with the same issue. Morgan, who comes with an experience of playing for England in the middle-order, could well turn out to be a season-defining buy for CSK in IPL 2020.

#1 Tom Banton

Tom Banton

Tom Banton, the 21-year-old England batsman, made the headlines in the recently concluded edition of Vitality Blast 2019. Playing for Somerset, the young opening batsmen tormented the bowlers throughout the season. In 13 games, he scored 549 runs with an explosive strike-rate of 161.47. In the process, he also scored his maiden T20 ton in the last season.

As a result, he quickly grabbed the attention of the England selectors and various T20 franchises around the world. Therefore, it will not be a massive surprise if Banton fetches a big deal in the upcoming auction.

CSK had plenty of injury concerns in the past two seasons owing to the age of their squad. Since Shane Watson always has a problem with his hamstring, Banton can be a perfect option at the top of the order. There were already reports of CSK showing interest in the Somerset lad. With plenty of money left in their auction purse, CSK can go all-out for Banton in the upcoming auction.

From Sanath Jayasuriya to Quinton de Kock, Mumbai has always shown a love for the big-hitting overseas top-order batsmen in every IPL auction. Since Evin Lewis was released, we can expect MI to go after the young England sensation to bolster their top-order.

Even though they have plenty of opening options in their squad already (de Kock, Rohit Sharma, and Suryakumar Yadav), the signing of Banton will only further increase the bench strength of the defending champions.