Opening Pairs for all 8 IPL franchises in IPL 2020

List of possible Opening Pairs for all 8  franchises

IPL is around the corner just 17 days left and all the IPL franchises are busy in their preparation for the money-studded tournament. But the most crucial thing for any franchise will be how impressive they open.

Here are possible Opening pairs for all 8 IPL franchises:

CHENNA SUPER KINGS:

Chennai Super Kings is a franchise which does not believe in much of the experiment part they believe in picking the tried and tested player.

Chennai Super Kings will bank on their most trusted pair Faf du Plessis & Shane Watson for beginning the innings at the top. The duo has managed to consolidate the game due to their vast experience in International Cricket.

MUMBAI INDIANS:

Mumbai Indians is the most successful team in the entire IPL setup. The credit for that goes to Rohit Sharma who opened the innings in the last edition. But this year we can expect the dangerous Chris Lynn &  Quinton De Cock to be the opening pair for the franchises.

Quinton has been opening for the South African team as well and Lynn has shown how dangerous he can be at the top.

Lynn scored 90+ runs in BBL while team score was merely above 100 inside 10 overs.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE:

Royal Challengers Bangalore have abundant options for the opening pair they can go with Parthiv Patel, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Paddikal and Aaron Finch.

But as per the sources RCB is willing to go with  Virat  & Finch pair at the top. Virat Kohli has performed exceptionally well in IPL while opening the innings. He scored 4 hundred in 2016 when he opened for the franchise.

Finch, however, has performed well in International Cricket but has failed to make a mark in IPL. The duo can be very lethal for the opposition once they get going.

Parthiv can also come to the top as well if Finch is low on form and give the team left-hand right-hand combination as well.

KINGS XI PUNJAB:

Punjab is a franchise who constantly keep manipulating their players’ list. But their opening pair is the most stable thing for them in the IPL. KXIP have trusted  KL Rahul &  Chris Gayle as their openers. The two have done well while opening the innings together as they are teammates right from RCB times.

If Gayle misses out due to injury or poor form they can go with Mayank Agarwal or Pooran to get the right start.

SUNRISERS HYDERABAD:

Sunrisers Hyderabad has been the most sorted franchise when it comes to opening pair. David Warner who missed 2018 IPL due to ban returned in 2019 for the team. David Warner and Jonny Bairstow have been the most consistent pair since the last year.

The duo also scored individual tons in the game against RCB. David Warner will also lead the side from the front. The  Warner & Bairstow will catch the most eyes when the season begins.

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS:

After letting go Chris Lynn in the auction it was no brainer that the franchise is looking at Shubman Gill as the opener with Sunil Narine. Sunil Narine looks to provide a quick start to the team whereas Gill looks to build his innings.

The duo can play a vital role in KKR setup. Also, the team bought aggressive Tom Banton in the auction who is popularly known for clear power hitting.

However, in the initial games, KKR will go with Narine & Gill pair.

RAJASTHAN ROYALS:

Rajasthan Royals would keep Jos Buttler as the first choice keeper. However, alongside Buttler, the franchise can go with Robin Uthappa. Robin has vast IPL experience of batting at the top in IPL as he batted at the opening position for some years in KKR setup and slowly move to no.3 position.

The franchise can also look to provide an opportunity to young Yashasvi Jaiswal to open the innings with Jos Buttler. Yashasvi has shown great positives for India U-19 team.

DELHI DAREDEVILS:

Delhi Daredevils have Shikhar Dhawan & Prithvi Shaw is the expected opening pair for the Shreyas Iyer led side. The two can provide a great start because both these players have similar batting style which is to attack from ball one.

Interestingly,  Delhi franchise also has Jason Roy and Ajinkya Rahane who can begin the innings. But Ajinkya Rahane has shown interest in batting at no.4 position. The opening pair for Delhi can change as the tournament progresses.

The IPL will begin from September 19.

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