The much-awaited Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 is all set to begin from September 19 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Originally, the 13th edition of the lucrative league was supposed to kick off from March 29, but due to deadly COVID-19, the exciting tournament got postponed.
Several fans thought the fate of this year’s T20 league was done and dusted, but the Sourav Ganguly-led Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) didn’t let that happen. With the postponement of the T20 World Cup, IPL 13 got a new window as BCCI shifted the league to UAE, due to the significant spread of the coronavirus in India.
Now as the dates are out for the cash-rich league, experts, as well as the admirers of the captivating game, have started making predictions regarding who would win the title of IPL 13, or who would rule the season with his performance.
Former Australian leg-spinner, Brad Hogg has claimed Mumbai Indians (MI) and Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) as the top two title contenders in the upcoming edition of IPL. Furthermore, he reckoned that MI all-rounder Hardik Pandya would earn the ‘Player of the Tournament’ award in the exciting competition.
“He (Hardik) is looking to get back into cricket after a long time off due to injury. He’s also got a baby on the way as well. I just think those things will give him extra energy and he will become a man of the tournament in the UAE,” said Hogg while speaking on his YouTube channel.
Meanwhile, Hardik would be desperate to prove his worth in IPL 2020 after a long break from international cricket. His last appearance for Team India came during the home T20Is against South Africa, in September 2019.
In the previous edition of IPL, Hardik scored 402 runs at an impressive strike-rate of 191.42 and picked up 14 wickets at an average of 27.85 to help his side claim their fourth title.
