Five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians are in Group A along with Kolkata Knights, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants. Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra called it the toughest of the two groups and admitted that Mumbai would not be very happy with the format of each team in IPL 2022.
Under the new rules, each team will play twice with members of its own group and with another team on the same row, and the remaining four teams will play only once. As such, Mumbai will also play Chennai Super Kings twice, including one against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans.
Sharing his thoughts on his YouTube channel, Aakash said that in the league stage, Mumbai will play the tougher teams twice and the weaker teams once.
“Mumbai will play Kolkata, Rajasthan, Washington and Lucknow twice. They will also play CSK twice. They will play all the big teams twice but only once against Sunrisers, RCB, Punjab and Gujarat Titans. I don’t think they’re going to be happy. Look at Hyderabad, they’ve played against Kolkata twice (from Group A) and once against Mumbai, DC, Rajasthan and Lucknow. So you only play against the strong teams once , so it doesn’t matter if they win or lose. Group A will be the most difficult,” he said.
The former India opener also admitted that he prefers the format used by the ICC in World Cup matches, in which the top teams from each group advance to the knockout stages.
“Not every top team in each group will make it to the playoffs. The top 4 will be determined based on the scores of all 14 games they play, as each team will play at least once. That’s why I think the system Better than the World Cup, although it’s still not ideal,” he said.
IPL 2022 will start on March 26 and will be held at four locations in Maharashtra – three in Mumbai and one in Pune.
Complete News Source :HINDUSTAN TIMES
