IPL 2020: Predicting and ranking the new-ball bowling pairs of all 8 teams

#2 Mumbai Indians - Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult

Jasprit Bumrah will have to be at his best in IPL 2020 in the absence of Lasith Malinga

It might seem absurd to rank a new-ball bowling pair of Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah anywhere other than #1, but the latter's poor IPL record leads to this decision.

Bumrah will be MI's biggest hope in the fast bowling department in the absence of veteran pacer Lasith Malinga, as the only other Indian speedster he has for company is Dhawal Kulkarni, who has been very expensive in the last 3 IPL seasons.

Kiwi left-armer Boult hasn't set the IPL on fire but he is certainly a world-class bowler, and he is expected to share the new ball with Bumrah ahead of the likes of Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Pattinson, Mitchell McClenaghan and of course Kulkarni.

The Bumrah-Boult combination can be absolutely lethal with the new ball, but there is one that pips them to the top spot.

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#1 Sunrisers Hyderabad - Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Nabi

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a great asset in the IPL

The claim that Mohammad Nabi will open the bowling ahead of Basil Thampi, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul, Billy Stanlake and Khaleel Ahmed is a brave one, but the Afghanistan all-rounder has been unplayable in the ongoing Caribbean Premier League.

Nabi is incredibly accurate and on pitches that offer turn, he would be next to unplayable when the odd ball skids on when new as well. The St Lucia Zouks man will, of course, partner Indian swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has been a mainstay for SRH over the years in the IPL.

Bhuvneshwar and Nabi are obviously very different bowlers, and opposition batsmen might have a really hard time facing them early on in the innings in IPL 2020.

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