Indian fans’ agonizing wait for cricket finally ends today, as the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League gets underway in the UAE. And with all the hype that’s accompanying the tournament, there’s also a good number of predictions and speculations coming in. More so than before, thanks to all the fantasy XI websites that have come up in recent times.
For the 2020 IPL, former English captain Michael Vaughan also seems to have warmed up to this trend of pre-analyzing and predictions. Over on a recent interaction with the British betting site William Hill, Vaughny made some rather brazen predictions about the upcoming season. The 2005 Ashes-winning captain panned out every team’s pros and cons and concluded by naming his title favorites for this year’s title.
“Brendon McCullum’s coaching experience vital at KKR, he’s got a champion team”- Michael Vaughan
Michael reckoned that with a smart coach like Brendon McCullum at the head, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are most likely to win this year. He also acknowledged Baz’s astute leadership skills behind the Trinibago Knight Riders’ recent, Caribbean Premier League (CPL) victory. “That’s my side, the Kolkata Knight Riders (to win the IPL). Baz McCullum as a coach. I just think they’ve got enough, and with him coaching, he’s just won the Caribbean Premier League. I just think he’s going to have enough,” he opined.
“Strong, competitive environment and world-class players make them favorites for this IPL”
Aside from Baz, Vaughan also lauded the KKR talent pool for having a strong, competitive environment. The 45-year-old felt that the team had a strong group of core players, but even their back-ups could do a more than handy job if given the chance. Interestingly, he also reckoned that Pat Cummins- the most expensive buy in the IPL’s history; would be unable to feature in all of Knight Riders’ matches because of the pitches getting slower.
“There’s plenty there for them to be competitive. Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav- world-class spinners there. Pat Cummins, probably won’t play all games. Andre Russell, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana. Lots of quality in there. It might be that they don’t have enough power in their batting. But there you go. Kolkata Knight Riders are your IPL champions,” he reckoned.
Here’s a full video of his analysis:
?️ “Kolkata Knight Riders, they are your IPL champions.”
@MichaelVaughan has made his predictions for the new IPL season… ? pic.twitter.com/Oo2jCFzjzt— William Hill (@WilliamHill) September 18, 2020