Lasith Malinga, the IPL’s biggest wicket catcher, and Suresh Raina, the league’s second-biggest race catcher, have opted out of the 2020 season in the United Arab Emirates. In addition to these two and Harbhajan Singh, who are such great IPL icons, Chris Woakes and Jason Roy have also withdrawn from the tournament. ESPNcricinfo analyzes how his absence could affect his franchises.
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Raina, at No. 3, is typically set in stone for the Chennai Super Kings, having missed just one game during his ten seasons in the franchise. He has now returned home to India but has not ruled out a return to Super Kings camp over the course of the tournament.
In the past, Raina was a one-shot hunk, happily spreading her arms and tossing both seamers and spinners over her favorite extra coverage region. In recent years, Raina’s form in the Super Kings had grown cold, and it might not be the force it once was, but it was a key part of the Super Kings’ plans.
Filling the empty spaces
The Super Kings have yet to name a replacement for him, but Maharashtra and India A hitter Ruturaj Gaikwad, who is believed to have impressed MS Dhoni at Chepauk camp in March this year, is being mentioned as a possible. No. 3 If Gaikwad isn’t the preferred choice, Ambati Rayudu is likely to take over, with Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis set to open the innings.
If teams tend to attack the Super Kings right-hand hitting band with a kick, they could look to separate them by raising Ravindra Jadeja or Sam Curran or Mitchell Santner in order. Jadeja has hit No. 3 in the past, just four times, hitting 91 runs with a strike rate of 140. Curran has also batted there in eight innings, hitting 230 runs with a strike rate of nearly 144 – and he too he had opened the batting once for Kings XI Punjab in the last IPL. At the 2017 T20 Blast in England, Santner was also promoted to No. 3 by Worcestershire.
ALSO READ: Who can replace Suresh Raina in Chennai Super Kings?
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In the first qualifying match against Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2018, Dhoni did not use Singh as a bowler. Overall though, Singh’s precision has been critical to the Super Kings attack over the past two seasons. He was often Dhoni’s favorite spinner in the power play, claiming 11 wickets in 16 innings during that phase at an economy rate of 8.40. Without forgetting all the experience and consistency; he is the only bowler to have an economy rating of less than 7.5 in eight IPL seasons.
Filling the empty spaces
While the Super Kings have a variety of options to replace Raina within their own squad, they don’t have a specialized secondary on their roster to fill the Singh-sized gap. However, they have leg clamps Piyush Chawla and Karn Sharma, and left finger R Sai Kishore in the group. Tamil Nadu spinners M Abhinav (leg clamp) and Aushik Srinivas (left arm finger pricker) are in the net bowling contingent, but none of them shoot out of line. Jalaj Saxena, who was part of the Delhi Capitals last year, could be a good replacement for Singh, if the Super Kings are looking for one.
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Mumbai has a glut of top-notch pacing options in their setup: Trent Boult can swing the new ball, Mitchell McClenaghan thrives on power bowling, Jasprit Bumrah is a world champion, Hardik Pandya is getting his way back from injury, and there are also Nathan Coulter-Nile and Dhawal Kulkarni in the mix. However, the vast experience and pedigree of Malinga’s great games will surely be lost. The 37-year-old has appeared for Mumbai in multiple finals and is also known as a master tactician just like his captain Rohit Sharma. Malinga often throws the tough shots, both in the power play and in the death, handing Mumbai an unprecedented fourth title.
Filling the empty spaces
Mumbai has signed James Pattinson as a replacement for Malinga, but the fast Australian has yet to make his IPL debut (although he has been part of the Kolkata Knight Riders before). Pattinson brings with him some extra pacing and hustle on deck, which could prove effective even on the traditionally slow tracks of the UAE. With Quinton de Kock and Kieron Pollard starting among the foreign names, McClenaghan, Boult, Coulter-Nile and Pattinson will have to battle for the other two spots.
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Woakes was heavily used as a death bowling all-rounder by Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Knight Riders. Fourteen of his 25 wickets in the IPL have come in the last five overs. In the pre-pandemic world, Kagiso Rabada had been ruled out of the India tour earlier this year due to injury, and might not have been available had the IPL occurred in his original venue. So the Capitals would have considered Woakes a first choice for XI. Also, being a capable hitter at the bottom of the order, Woakes would likely have played a few games with teams that would likely rotate their players considering the heat in the UAE.
Filling the empty spaces
Rabada is now fit and the Capitals have recruited Anrich Nortje to replace Woakes. Nortje had missed the 2019 IPL for the Knight Riders, and then the World Cup due to a shoulder injury, but he is also back and can regularly record speeds north of 140 km / h. So Woakes’ absence might not be too big of a setback for the Capitals.
Others to lose IPL 2020
Jason roy: It’s huge for England in cue ball cricket, but it would have been difficult for the capitals to break into the XI, which have Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer as their Indian opening options. The team played smart by lifting quick Australian left arm Daniel Sams in place of Roy.
Kane richardson: The fast Australian wanted to be home for the birth of his first child, and the muscular Adam Zampa has replaced Royal Challengers Bangalore. A sensible move by the team, with all the games to be played on slower courses in the United Arab Emirates.
Harry gurney: A shoulder injury has knocked Gurney out of the game, and the Knight Riders might miss him, even though they have Pat Cummins and Lockie Ferguson in their ranks. Mainly for the team, they will have Chris Green available; there were question marks about his action, but he is bowling and very well in CPL.
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