IPL 2020 | Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings' rivalry boosted IPL’s success, reckons Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar has reckoned that for the success of any tournament rivalries are crucial and IPL owes its success to Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians rivalry. Tendulkar added that with the introduction of Chris Lynn and Nathan Coulter-Nile in the squad MI has become stronger.
September 19 marks the start of the much-awaited 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League with Mumbai Indians getting into the battleground with age-old rivals Chennai Super Kings. While Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians have claimed the IPL title 4 times, Chennai Super Kings have been champions thrice under MS Dhoni. Such has been their rivalry that it has always remained at the core of every edition of IPL.
Some have even gone on to compare this 12-year old rivalry to some of football's historic rivalries such as the 'El Clasico,' which goes on to show the level of competition between the two sides. Sachin Tendulkar reckoned that rivalry is crucial for the success of any tournament and MI and CSK rivalry has been that catalyst in IPL’s success.
“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. 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,” Tendulkar said on a video posted by the official Twitter handle of Mumbai Indians, reported India Today.
Chris Lynn and Nathan Coulter-Nile were bought by Mumbai Indians for the 2020 edition of IPL to further fix the team combination and enhance their bench strength. The Master Blaster heaped praises on Australian cricketers Chris Lynn and Nathan Coulter-Nile who, according to Tendulkar, have strengthened the Mumbai Indians’ core.
“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 uh Mumbai Indians as a squad have always been good but it strengthened much more with these two inclusions,” Tendulkar added.