IPL 2025 will start on March 22 with defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders taking on Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Kolkata - Here are the strengths and weaknesses of each of the ten IPL 2025 teams ahead of the start of the season.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Squad
Complete IPL 2025 squad details for KKR can be found here.
Strengths
Title-winning team structure is intact with Sunil Narine and Andre Russell providing batting and bowling depth.
High-quality backups are available for most first-choice overseas players - Moeen Ali for Narine, Rovman Powell for Russell, Spencer Johnson for Anrich Nortje, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz for Quinton de Kock.
Weaknesses
Explosiveness in the middle order can be an issue with Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, and Rinku Singh expected to occupy slots between 3-6.
At 36, captain Rahane might be the weakest link in the lineup. A mid-season captaincy change, if it happens, would not be completely unexpected.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Squad
Complete IPL 2025 squad details for SRH can be found here.
Strengths
One of, if not the most explosive lineup with the "Travishek" opening pair at the top, followed by Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen, and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Weaknesses
Batting depth would be a worry, with unproven candidates like Abhinav Manohar and Wiaan Mulder expected to play the finishers' roles.
The bowling attack including the likes of Mohammed Shami, Pat Cummins, Harshal Patel, and Jaydev Unadkat, while experienced and varied, has the reputation of being expensive.
Rajasthan Royals
Squad
Complete IPL 2025 squad details for RR can be found here.
Strengths
A strong Indian core consisting of retained players, including captain Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, and Sandeep Sharma.
Weaknesses
Terrible squad balance. Rajasthan don't have any seam-bowling all-rounders or frontline Indian spinners they can rely on. To go with that, the only backup batters in their squad are 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, and the uncapped duo of Shubham Dubey and Kunal Rathore.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Squad
Complete IPL 2025 squad details for RCB can be found here.
Strengths
Good seam bowling attack led by Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. They have overseas backups in Lungi Ngidi and Nuwan Thushara, and Indian quicks in Rasikh Salam, Yash Dayal (retained), and the uncapped Abhinandan Singh.
Strong top three. Virat Kohli will be paired up with Phil Salt, who is taking over from Faf du Plessis, while Rajat Patidar, who is also taking over from du Plessis in a different capacity, will offer solidity and explosiveness against spin at three.
Weaknesses
No.4. Most of RCB's middle order batters are not the best suited for batting at four, which feels like at least one spot too high for the likes of Krunal Pandya, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, and Tim David.
Chennai Super Kings
Squad
Complete IPL 2025 squad details for CSK can be found here.
Strengths
Strong template for home matches. CSK look set to field a spin attack of Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Noor Ahmad for Chennai games, with Shreyas Gopal, Deepak Hooda, and Rachin Ravindra also available as options.
Underrated pace attack. CSK will start with Matheesha Pathirana as their overseas seamer in all likelihood, with either Sam Curran or Jamie Overton occupying the seam all-rounder's slot. They also have Nathan Ellis as a backup death bowler, and a high quality Indian contingent comprising Anshul Kamboj (right-arm), Kamlesh Nagarkoti (right-arm), Mukesh Choudhary (left-arm), Gurjapneet Singh (left-arm), and Khaleel Ahmed (left-arm).
Weaknesses
Thin middle order. Slots 3-5 will have to be occupied by three out of Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Deepak Hooda, and Shivam Dube. Each of them are quality batters on their own, but when put together to shepherd the middle order of the joint-most successful IPL franchise, the group starts looking slightly inadequate. CSK don't have any overseas option other than Sam Curran who can slot into any of these positions.
Delhi Capitals
Squad
Complete IPL 2025 squad details for DC can be found here.
Strengths
Highly experienced and skilled bowling attack. The pace department will be led by Mitchell Starc who'll have the currently discarded but effective Indian trio of Mukesh Kumar, T Natarajan, and Mohit Sharma for support. Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, meanwhile, will provide eight reliable overs of spin.
Weaknesses
Too many top order batters. Faf du Plessis has been announced as the vice-captain which all but confirms his spot in the XI. But he'll most probably have to play at No.3 with KL Rahul and Jake Fraser-McGurk opening. Abishek Porel, who is also a top three batter, would then have to slot in at No.4, and if DC pick Karun Nair, he'll have to play No.5 or below, not the ideal position for him as well. The only regular middle order batters are Axar Patel and Tristan Stubbs.
Lucknow Super Giants
Squad
Complete IPL 2025 squad details for LSG can be found here.
Strengths
High quality international batting contingent. Five of LSG's top six would be Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, and David Miller, making them one of the strongest batting units in the competition.
Also read: IPL 2025: LSG are perfectly placed to revive Rishabh Pant the T20 opener
Weaknesses
Injury hit pace attack. Mayank Yadav, their star find, is set to be unavailable for the first few games, and so is left-arm seamer Mohsin Khan. Both are generally injury prone too, meaning they can't be relied upon even when (if) they are back.
Gujarat Titans
Squad
Complete IPL 2025 squad details for GT can be found here.
Strengths
High quality bowling attack. From Kagiso Rabada, Gerald Coetzee, and Mohammed Siraj to Rashid Khan and Sai Kishore, GT have some top-class international level bowlers and ample number of domestic options across both spin and pace.
Weaknesses
Explosiveness of top three. In Shubman Gill, Jos Buttler, and Sai Sudharsan, GT have a very high but not very quick-scoring top three, which can cause problems.
Flaky middle order. Beyond the top three, GT don't have many reliable batters. Shahrukh Khan and Washington Sundar, both of whom have not done much of note with the bat at this level, will have to do a lot of middle order heavy lifting with either Sherfane Rutherford or Glenn Phillips for support - again two players who haven't proven themselves in the IPL yet.
Punjab Kings
Squad
Complete IPL 2025 squad details for PBKS can be found here.
Strengths
In-form players. Over the last few months, several of their players have played themselves into form. The likes of Azmatullah Omarzai, Josh Inglis, Shreyas Iyer suddenly look better prospects than they did at the time of the auction.
Lots of all-round options. Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Aaron Hardie, Suryansh Shedge, Harpreet Brar and Musheer Khan - PBKS have as many as eight players who can both bat and bowl. Any combination of players they pick from this is bound to provide them with immense batting and bowling depth.
Weaknesses
Not much. The bowling attack can be put under the pump, but that is true for all teams. There's a decent chance that the two most inexperienced batters in their lineup could be the two players they retained - Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh.
Mumbai Indians
Squad
Complete IPL 2025 squad details for MI can be found here.
Strengths
Strong seam attack. Jasprit Bumrah will pair up with Trent Boult once again (though not immediately as Bumrah is set to miss the first set of games due to injury) and will be joined by Deepak Chahar and Hardik Pandya to create a seam-bowling attack that can cover all phases of the game. If all four manage to play together, MI can even afford to backload all four of Bumrah's overs.
Weaknesses
Injury prone seam attack. What is their strength can also turn out to be their weakness. Bumrah is already entering the tournament injured while Chahar, Pandya, and Reece Topley have a rich history of injuries. While they have the squad depth to deal with one of them being down, losing more might be fatal.
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