IPL 2019: Squad composition of all 8 franchises

The twelfth season of the Indian Premier League is set to begin with a mouth-watering clash between MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings and Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai on Saturday. The Royal Challengers Bangalore have had a dismal run in the IPL since they reached the final in 2016. The Chennai Super Kings, on the other hand, made a comeback after serving their two-year ban last year and won the title.

The key to winning the IPL has always been a well-balanced side and therefore all the franchises would certainly look to find their best balanced side out of their pool of players as soon as possible.

Here’s a look at the composition of all the eight teams for this season.

Chennai Super Kings

The Chennai Super Kings have always had a well-balanced squad in the IPL and therefore they have always made it to the top four in the competition. They have enough firepower at the top with Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson. Chennai’s middle order is solid with the likes of Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni. The CSK captain has enough options in the bowling department with the likes of Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi and Mohit Sharma.

Delhi Capitals

The Delhi Capitals have more or less a settled side. Colin Munro and Shikhar Dhawan will need to provide a good start for the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant to capitalise on. The Delhi side have a good bowling attack in Trent Boult, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra and Sandeep Lamichhane. The only issue for Delhi at the moment is that they don’t have an outright finisher. Chris Morris may have to do that job for the team lower down the order.

Kings XI Punjab

The Kings XI Punjab will once again rely on their opening duo KL Rahul and Chris Gayle to score the bulk of the runs. They have talented batsmen such as Karun Nair and David Miller in the middle order, but they haven’t been consistent with their performances. A bowling attack consisting of Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ravichandran Ashwin, Andrew Tye and Mohammed Shami looks threatening for all teams.

Kolkata Knight Riders

The Kolkata Knight Riders don’t have too many star players, but they certainly have the ability to challenge all teams in the IPL. Chris Lynn and pinch hitter Sunil Narine will be expected to provide good starts to the team before Robin Uthappa and Dinesh Karthik walk out to bat. Mystery spinners Sunil Narine and Kuldeep Yadav will be able to make use of the conditions all over the country. The only issue for Kolkata is their fast bowling unit. They will need someone to step up with the new ball.

Mumbai Indians

The Mumbai Indians have a star-studded line-up right from the top of the order to their lower order. Rohit Sharma has made the best decision to open in this season and therefore he will mostly walk out to bat with Evin Lewis. Mumbai’s middle order will consist of Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya and Yuvraj Singh. The Indians arguably have the best short form bowler in the world – Jasprit Bumrah.

Rajasthan Royals

The Rajasthan Royals have an excellent batting line-up in Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Tripathi, Steve Smith and Jos Buttler. The Royals will be certainly ecstatic to welcome Steve Smith back into their squad after the completition of his one-year ban due to the ball-tampering scandal. Rajasthan have the likes of Jaydev Unadkat and Dhawal Kulkarni, but they may miss an express fast bowler in this season.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

The Royal Challengers Bangalore missed a good finisher in the last season and therefore they have signed Marcus Stoinis in this season. The Australian can hit the big shots and chip in with a few overs of medium pace. RCB don’t have to worry about their top order because they have the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in their dressing room. Bangalore have a quality bowling line-up as well with Umesh Yadav, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Yuzvendra Chahal in their ranks.

Sunrisres Hyderabad

Much like Rajasthan will be happy to welcome Smith back, the Sunrisers will be excited to have David Warner back in their dressing room. Warner and Kane Williamson will have to take the responsibility of scoring the bulk of the runs and when the Sunrisers come out to field, all eyes will be on Rashid Khan, who always works his magic in the IPL. Bhuvneshwar Kumar will also be a highlight for the team. The fast bowler will certainly look to strike form ahead of the World Cup.

First Published: Mar 20, 2019 16:39 IST