In what will be a repeat of last year’s IPL final, the Rohit Sharma-led MI will face CSK, captained by MS Dhoni, in Abu Dhabi. Over the years, the two have faced many times and the team from Mumbai hold 17-11 advantage over their southern rivals.
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In a video posted on MI’s official Twitter handle today, Tendulkar spoke about the “unpredictability” in the rivalry between MI and CSK.
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“For any tournament to succeed you need rivalries. Mumbai Indians, as well as Chennai Super Kings, have a very very strong fan base. Both are extremely competitive,” the former MI captain said.
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He added, “There have been occasions where you know Mumbai Indians were pushed badly in a corner and we’ve been able to pull through and win that game and the same thing has happened also with Chennai Super Kings. It makes that competition unpredictable and when there is an element of unpredictability people get glued to the television sets that is the beauty of any sport. But when it’s played at the highest level and so fiercely competitive people like to see that and this year also it’s not going to be any different.”
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Talking about MI squad, Tendulkar felt the addition of Australians Chris Lynn and Nathan Coulter-Nile has strengthened the four-time champions.
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“Chris Lynn, when it comes to those explosive starts, he is tremendous. Nathan Coulter-Nile, swinging the ball upfront and then bowling those death overs, also chipping in with his bat. All in all, I think the balance is really nice. Of course, Mumbai Indians as a squad, earlier, anyways was good. But it is strengthened much more with these two inclusions,” Tendulkar opined.
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In the players’ auction in December 2019, MI bought Lynn for Rs 2 crore while they paid Rs 8 crore to re-sign Coulter-Nile. The Australian paceman was part of MI squad in IPL 2013.
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