Mumbai Indians are favourites

MI captain Rohit Sharma. Pic/AFP

The long season is over and what an unbelievable season it has been for Indian cricket team. They won just about everything in sight and also are now in the finals of the World Test Championship.

That should be something to look forward to, as New Zealand, the other finalist, defeated India in the semi-finals of the ICC World Cup 2019 in England. Not to forget that they also thrashed India 2-0 at home a little more than a year back.

The conditions in England will be familiar for New Zealand plus they will be playing two Test matches against England in June just before the WTC finals so they will be acclimatised as well as in Test match mode even as India and some New Zealand players will be coming off the IPL which ends on May 30.

Yes, the glitziest T20 league starts later in the week and as always it promises to provide entertainment and thrills galore. It has never been easy to predict who will win because the format is such that a game can turn on its head in a matter of deliveries.

Every team have got game-changers with both bat and ball and the crucial element as usual will be which team have got more petrol in the tank as it comes to the playoff stage.

The inexperienced player tends to heave a sigh of relief at qualifying for the playoffs and is then sometimes unable to recapture the energy and intensity that was there at the league stage.

Big spending

There were some big money buys at the mini auction held earlier in the year and all eyes will be on them and their performances analysed threadbare with some even going to the extent of calculating how much each run or wicket was in relation to the price they were bought at.

In recent times, there has been a trend to go big for bowlers, especially of the quicker variety, as teams are looking for those who can close the game out. This could well be the result of seeing the manner in which Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Lasith Malinga to name three who have been amazing in the ‘death overs'.

Bumrah will be raring to go after the break he has had and in the recent T20 as well as the ODI series against England we saw why Bhuvneshwar is so highly rated in the final overs of the game. Mumbai Indians will start as the favourites simply because of the ease with which they won last time. Even in the finals, they had plenty left in reserve as they coasted to a win in one of the mildest finals of the IPL.

Most finals go down to the last over but not the one last year in Dubai as Mumbai knocked off the runs as if they were having net practice. Their strength has been the fact that they don't make unnecessary changes to their squad and only look to strengthen an area which they feel needs it.

One family

The atmosphere is truly like one family unit and there is genuine joy at each other's success. Their spirit can be seen in the dug out where even during the odd tense situation there will be laughs and smiles with the belief that they will come through that situation.

It will take something extraordinary to dislodge them from their perch. This being the electric format that it is, a team that plays above itself could well do it but it won't be easy as Mumbai have all its bases covered.

Mahela Jayawardene's success as the coach of Mumbai have made Rajasthan Royals go for another Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara as its Director of Cricket and ‘Sanga's' calm cool analysis of game situations will definitely be a big boost for the men in pink.

Other teams have also spent big bucks on individual players like Rajasthan Royals did on Chris Morris and they will be hoping that it will be money well spent . We shall soon find out.

Professional Management Group