Days ahead of the start of IPL 2021, former Australian cricketer, Brad Hogg has picked his version of playing XI of the defending champions Mumbai Indians. The Rohit Sharma-led side will begin their campaign on the season opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Hogg went for skipper Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock as the openers. Going further, Brad Hogg feels that while Rohit can look to put his head down and play deep into the innings, the onus of increasing the scoring rate should be on De Kock. At number three and four, Hogg named Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan, who both made their international debuts in the T20I series against England.

“They will have Rohit Sharma and De Kock opening the batting. They both complement each other. Rohit Sharma will be a bit more conservative trying to bat the maximum number of overs. De Kock, his role will be to get the momentum, get off to a good start in the powerplay,” Hogg said.

“Then you have got Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan coming in at 3 and 4. Both have just got a little bit of international experience and they would be better for that as well,” he stated.

Pollard, Hardik, and Krunal will bat at No.5, 6, and 7 – Brad Hogg

Going forward, Brad Hogg went for Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, and Krunal Pandya as the rest of the batters. Krunal had a stupendous outing in the ODIs against England as in the first game, he turned up with a match-winning half-century. Hogg also lauded Pollard and Hardik for their brutal power-hitting.

“Kieron Pollard at 5, Hardik Pandya at 6, and Krunal Pandya at 7. Pollard and Hardik had a strike rate of over 200 in the last five overs. That is where they took the competition away,” Hogg quipped.

As the fast bowlers, Brad Hogg went for Nathan Coulter Nile and the duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult. Hogg also feels that leg-spinner Piyush Chawla should be in the starting eleven because of his wicket-taking ability.