IPL 2020 | Murali Vijay would be keen to redeem himself, believes K Srikkanth
Murali Vijay returned to Chennai Super Kings setup in 2018
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Kris Srikkanth has opined that in the absence of Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay will have a great opportunity to redeem himself in the IPL 2020, which will be played in UAE. He added that Chennai Super Kings is a still a good team and would reach the knockouts as Dhoni knows the winning formula.
Suresh Raina is IPL’s second-highest run-scorer ever and has been an integral part of CSK’s team set-up for several years. Raina has often steadied the ship for CSK in the past when they were in a precarious position along with providing a boost to the score with his stroke play. However, the Chennai Super Kings were left in a soup when the UP boy decided to go back to India citing personal reasons. Ever since then, the debate has started to pick the replacement of veteran in the batting department.
Former India batsman K Srikkanth reckoned that it is the ideal opportunity for Murali Vijay, who returned to CSK in 2018, to redeem himself in the IPL. Srikkanth believed that he could be the one to take Raina’s place in the batting department. He added that CSK will definitely reach the knockouts as MS Dhoni knows the winning formula.
“See, in my opinion, it’s a good opportunity for Vijay. He is determined. Whenever we met, he says he has been practising well and looking for opportunities to do well,” Srikkanth said in his YouTube show ‘Cheeky Cheeka’
“Don’t forget, Vijay is a big-match player, he can open with Shane Watson. it’s a great opportunity for him to redeem himself in the IPL. He has led sides like KXIP. Having played at that level, he would be keen to redeem himself.”
“I still believe this team is a good team. They will definitely reach the top 4. CSK have the experience. The overall strength of CSK is MS Dhoni leading and experience. Dhoni knows the formula of winning,” Srikkanth said.
On similar lines, Watson also talked about Raina’s departure, stating that it would be hard to replace the batsman in the upcoming season due to his phenomenal record in the IPL. But he also pointed out that Vijay is a capable batsman who has what it takes to perform for CSK in the UAE.
“No doubt he is a big loss but we have got someone like Murali Vijay, who is a gun player. In T20 cricket, he has not got a lot of opportunities in the last few years. But he is a seriously good batsman. He was sitting on the sidelines last year, he might get more opportunities this year,” said Watson.
