Talking about IPL’s defending champions Mumbai Indians' weak points, former Indian batsman and commentator Sunil Gavaskar insisted that the side has no experienced spinners and also their middle-order could be a concern.

“They do not have the experienced spinners that other sides have,” Gavaskar told Sports Tak. He added, “The other thing that can be a weakness is middle order. They will have to think who will bat at number 4 and number 5 position. If Quinton de Kock plays, then he will open with either Rohit Sharma or Suryakumar Yadav.”

Mumbai will play the inaugural match of the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League against last year’s runners up Chennai Super Kings on September 19.

In his playing XI, Gavaskar picked skipper Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar to open the innings with de Kock at number three. 

About Ishan Kishan, Gavaskar said, he can open the innings or might come at number 4, followed by Hardik Pandya at number 5 and Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya at number 6 and 7 respectively.  

“Ishan Kishan might come in at No.4, he can also open the innings. Kieron Pollard can come in at No.5. Maybe Hardik Pandya can be promoted to No.4. But if that doesn’t happen then who will play at No.4?” 

He chose three pacers - Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult or Mitchel McCleneghan. With one frontline spin choice in Rahul Chahar.

IPL could give KL Rahul a chance to be India’s vice-captain

The 71-year-old former India batsman also spoke about Kings XI Punjab captain KL Rahul. Gavaskar reckons that a good IPL season as captain could give Rahul a chance to play for India as a vice-captain in the future. 

"There is a great chance for KL Rahul to show that he can score runs when given the responsibility. Secondly, he can show that he is capable of captaining a side and how he moulds his team and extracts effort. If he does that well he can even go on to become the vice-captain of the Indian team."

Rahul will have his first captaincy taste when he skippers KXIP in the 13th edition of the IPL.