Chennai Super Kings

Probable XI and Impact Player: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Shivam Dube, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), R Ashwin, Nathan Ellis, Khaleel Ahmed Noor Ahmad, Matheesha Pathirana

Ravindra’s stocks have risen over the past year, and he may get the nod ahead of Conway as Gaikwad’s opening partner, more so because of the extra over or two he can chip in with at Chepauk. Expect Ellis, Noor, and Pathirana to be the other overseas cricketers. CSK bat really deep this time, and quite a few of their batters bowl as well.

Delhi Capitals

Probable XI and Impact Player: Jake Fraser-McGurk, KL Rahul, Harry Brook, Tristan Stubbs, Abishek Porel (wk), Axar Patel, Ashutosh Sharma, Sameer Rizvi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar

There has been no confirmation on DC’s captain for the season, but it will almost certainly be one of Axar and Rahul. The above is one of the combinations they may opt for. Alternately, they may replace Starc with du Plessis to bolster their batting, and pick Mohit Sharma for Rizvi.

Gujarat Titans

Probable XI and Impact Player: Jos Buttler (wk), Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Glenn Phillips, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Washington Sundar, Rashid Khan, Mahipal Lomror, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

The Gujarat top three like to bat deep, putting additional pressure on the middle-order power hitters. Phillips is still likely to start, but do not be surprised if they get Sherfane Rutherford instead. On a pitch assisting turn, Sai Kishore may come in for Prasidh or even Lomror.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Probable XI and Impact Player: Sunil Narine, Quinton de Kock (wk), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Anrich Nortje, Anukul Roy

KKR do not have a confirmed captain either. What they do have, however, is backup for most first-choice players – Spencer Johnson for Nortje, Ajinkya Rahane for one of the batters, Mayank Markande for Varun, Rovman Powell for Russell (they can cover Russell’s overs), Moeen Ali for Narine, and so on. They can stick to the formula – uninhibited batters, enough bowlers – that had helped them win the IPL in 2024.

Lucknow Super Giants

Probable XI and Impact Player: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Rishabh Pant (wk), Nicholas Pooran, David Miller, Ayush Badoni, Shahbaz Ahmed, Abdul Samad, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav

Will Pant open? Will he at at three? Will he lead? Alas, we do not know. Let us put him at one-drop, sandwiched by two overseas power-hitters on either side (of course, someone may bat over Pooran and Miller. Of all teams in this IPL, LSG are probably best-placed to take the all-Indian-bowling-attack punt. Even the potential bench – M Siddharth, Arshin Kulkarni, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Akash Deep – bear a formidable look.

Mumbai Indians

Probable XI and Impact Player: Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Will Jacks, Hardik Pandya (c), Naman Dhir, Robin Minz (wk), Deepak Chahar, Mitchell Santner, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, open Impact Player

MI retained their Indian heavyweights, all of whom are batters or all-rounders. That will enable them to pick Jacks alongside both Boult and Santner. If needed, they can have a fourth overseas player in the XI, but they may also want to use one of Ryan Rickelton, Reece Topley, and Allah Ghazanfar as an Impact Player depending on the conditions.

Punjab Kings

Probable XI and Impact Player: Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Shreyas Iyer, Azmatullah Omarzai, Glenn Maxwell, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marco Jansen, Harpreet Brar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

The homecoming of Maxwell, the hero of 2014, may bolster Punjab’s chances this time. Shreyas, the potential captain, has turned the fortune around, first for DC, then for KKR, and PBKS will hope him to work closely with Ricky Ponting to finally get PBKS a taste of silverware. They have a good backups – a fast bowler in Kuldeep Sen, a power hitter in Josh Inglis, and the exciting six-machine Priyansh Arya.

Rajasthan Royals

Probable XI and Impact Player: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Sandeep Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Madhwal

Having retained five batters (and an uncappedzoned bowler), one would have expected Rajasthan to invest heavily in the bowling department. They did, but their biggest stars – Archer and Hasaranga – are both prone to injuries. However, by getting Rana and Hasaranga, they have somewhat addressed the lack of all-rounders that had hurt them in the previous cycle.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Probable XI and Impact Player: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone, Rajat Patidar, Krunal Pandya, Tim David, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Rasikh Salam Dar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma

RCB did two things differently this time. First, they have moved away from their usual tactic of trusting only a few star batters to do the heavy lifting. And two, in Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood, they got the most dangerous new-ball pair, backed by Dayal. The back-up (Romario Shepherd, Swapnil Singh, Jacob Bethell) looks strong as well. At Chinnaswamy, a venue where spinners have gone for 9.24 an over across the last two seasons, the decision to not bolster that unit was almost certainly intentional.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Probable XI and Impact Player: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Atharva Taide, Heinrich Klaasen, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins, Harshal Patel, Rahul Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Adam Zampa

SRH have the big guns, and added both Kishan and Manohar to an already devastating batting unit, but would probably have wanted another Indian batter (even if it meant picking a bowler fewer). Additionally, their backup overseas unit (Kamindu Mendis, Brydon Carse, Eshan Malinga) has no IPL experience; and one of Cummins and Harshal may end up batting at a position higher than they should have. It is an explosive team on paper, but not without its weak link.

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