Finally, the most awaited piece of IPL 2020 – a schedule – is out now. The tournament starts little before the march – 29th March – and ends little before the May – 24th May – ends. So, the 13th edition seems to have the longest schedule in the tournament’s history. Having spoken that, the tournament is just around the corner. So, let us at Cricket Bloggers kickstart our coverage of the world’s most prestigious T20 league, with some basic points.
Defending Champions and all that…
The very first thing that we talk about at the start is the “defending champions” and their ability to defend the title this year. So, Mumbai Indians are the reigning champions from the last edition. Looking at their squad, it’s hard to believe that they may not be able to defend. With the experienced captain and balanced side, MI looks set to defend the title.
More from T20: Against a Run-Fest Affair of T20 Cricket
IPL 2020 Favorites and all that…
At the IPL 2020 auction, all our Top five foreign picks and few good prospects went for good cash as expected. And that has helped many teams balance their sides. Hence, picking a particular favorite in the upcoming edition is pretty difficult. Almost all teams have a mix of experience and youth. However, there are a couple of teams – Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore – which lacks the team balance.
Coming back to the favorites, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings always start as favorites. However, CSK’s average age does the bad tricks for them as we experience last season. So, Mumbai would be a little ahead of them as tournament favorites. However, Delhi Capitals may be a dark horse this season. Slowly, they are getting into the groove of Mumbai Indians – consistent leadership and balanced team – which may help them to sail through.
IPL 2020 Venues, Playtime and all that…
Besides the usual home grounds of each team, three more venues – Indore, Guwahati, and Pune -have been chosen for the league stages this year, which makes it a total of 11 venues for the league stage. Unlike every year, only six matches are starting at 4 PM IST on each Sunday of the schedule. This subsequently increases the length of the tournament by a week. We just wish that a prolonged schedule does not make it boring.
In our coming editions of IPL coverage, we would cater to you with more such details. Keep reading and keep supporting.
