Ravichandran Ashwin, who has been an important part of the Delhi Capitals, feels that Mumbai Indians are the favourites to win the Indian Premier League (IPL) again in 2021. The men in blue have won the tournament in both 2019 and 2020. Rohit Sharma and co. will certainly look to win the title this year as well and become the first team in the history of the competition to win it three consecutive times.
On paper, the Mumbai Indian‘s team is certainly stronger than last year as well with the core unit staying intact and the likes of Jimmy Neesham, Piyush Chawla, and young left-arm pacer Marco Jansen joining them. Many former cricketers have backed Mumbai to be the side to beat and Ravichandran Ashwin echoed the same voice.
Mumbai Indians are the favorites to win IPL 2021 – Ravichandran Ashwin
The veteran off-spinner; however, reiterated that every team has a strong squad and will put up a tough fight in IPL 2021.
“Every team is strong and I am not making a diplomatic statement. But I definitely think Mumbai has got a powerful and experienced squad. Mumbai will always start as favourites in this competition. I think Mumbai is the team to beat,” said Ravichandran Ashwin.
The Delhi Capitals off-spinner added that regular skipper Shreyas Iyer would be a huge miss. Iyer had been ruled out of the IPL due to a shoulder injury he picked up during the India v England ODI series.
Ravichandran Ashwin also said that with the kind of batting form Rishabh Pant is in it is definitely going to help the team and sort out their batting woes which they had last season as he believes that their batting could not come together as a unit last year. He believes that the presence of an experienced player like Steve Smith is going to help Pant who is going to be captaining the side for the first time.
“Having an experienced player is always good for us. Especially now that Shreyas is not there which is a big blow for us. Hopefully, someone like Smith shares his experience and add value to the team.”
“Definitely, He is a very important player for us. This is my second year, but he (Shreyas) has been with the team for a long time and delivered. The team will miss him especially the way he was batting.” Ravichandran Ashwin said while talking to The New Indian Express