IPL 2021: Parthiv Patel reckons Mumbai Indians don't need to worry about the venue they're playing

The defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) are one of the prime contenders for winning the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which will run from April 9 to May 30 with the inaugural match between Rohit Sharma-led MI and Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

Ahead of the marquee event, former Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel, who had recently joined Mumbai as their talent scout, carried out a detailed analysis of the five-time champions saying that Mumbai has a strong line-up, and their players whether overseas or Indian have been in a good form lately.

This time the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to host the tournament at neutral venues to eliminate the home advantage. This means that no team will be playing at their home grounds, thus, MI will start their campaign in IPL 2021 with a fixture against RCB in Chennai.

Speaking about the same, the former RCB player reckoned that some might feel that MI should play with an extra spinner in Chennai, however, the franchise doesn’t need to make any significant changes in their playing XI while playing at different venues as they have two additional bowling options in form of Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard.

Parthiv Patel lauds Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya

Also, Parthiv believes that both the spinners including Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya have been in sublime form and will be looking forward to contributing positively to the team. “I don’t think Mumbai Indians will be thinking of where they are playing next. All the teams would be thinking about where they are playing first and you know, try and get their best team forward, try and get their best XI on a path. 

“If they are playing in Chennai, you might expect some spinner but from the Mumbai Indians point of view, I don’t think they have to tinker a lot with their playing XI because Hardik Pandya is bowling quite a bit now, almost bowling 4 overs, Pollard bowls his slower ones really well, which might be useful on a Chennai wicket.

“And obviously, Rahul Chahar had an outstanding IPL, a couple of outstanding IPLs and hence, he was picked for India. Krunal Pandya’s 4 overs, his form in domestic cricket, so I can go on and on about it,” Patel said while speaking on Star Sports show GAME PLAN.