Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and other stars in team-by-team guide to IPL 2018

Denzil Pinto 00:32 05/04/2018
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  • Strong squad: Mumbai Indians

    It’s that time of the year when international cricket takes a break and they best players on the planet travel to India for some high-octane T20 cricket for a period of nearly two months.

    With the Indian Premier League returning on Saturday, we analyse each of eight squads and give our prediction of where they will finish in the tournament.

    CHENNAI SUPER KINGS

    Captain: MS Dhoni

    Coach: Stephen Fleming

    Best result: Champions (2010 and 2011)

    Squad: MS Dhoni (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo, Karn Sharma, Shane Watson, Shardul Thakur, Ambati Rayudu, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Faf Du Plessis, Mark Wood, Sam Billings, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi, Asif K M, N Jagadeesan, Kanishk Seth, Monu Singh, Dhruv Shorey, Kshitiz Sharma, Chaitanya Bishnoi

    Strength: With Dhoni, Jadeja and Raina back in the mix, CSK make an emotional comeback after a two-year suspension. Du Plessis, Bravo and Watson provide stability. Have a superb spin attack in Harbhajan and Tahir.

    Weakness: The only area they could have a problem is not having an experienced pace attack meaning the spinners will need to step up.

    Prediction: Finalists

    MS Dhoni is back for Chennai Super Kings

    MS Dhoni is back for Chennai Super Kings.

    DELHI DAREDEVILS

    Captain: Gautam Gambhir

    Coach: Ricky Ponting

    Best result: Third (2009 and 2012)

    Squad: Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Chris Morris, Glenn Maxwell, Amit Mishra, Shahbaz Nadeem, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Mohammad Shami, Gautam Gambhir (c), Trent Boult, Colin Munro, Daniel Christian, Jason Roy, Naman Ojha, Prithvi Shaw, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Avesh Khan, Abhishek Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Harshal Patel, Manjot Kalra, Sandeep Lamichhane, Sayan Ghosh

    Strength: Roping in two-time winner Gambhir as captain is a smart move for a squad that now has considerable batting strength with Roy, Maxwell and Munro in their ranks. Bowling look impressive with Boult and Shami leading the pace attack, while Nepal leg-spinner Lamichhane has the potential to make a big impact.

    WeaknessHave a tendency to lose the plot if things are not going their way. Lack of success over a decade means team can crack under pressure.

    Prediction: League stage

    KINGS XI PUNJAB

    Captain: Ravichandran Ashwin

    Coach: Brad Hodge

    Best result: Runners-up (2014)

    Squad: Ravichandran Ashwin (c), KL Rahul, Andrew Tye, Aaron Finch, Marcus Stoinis, Karun Nair, Mujeeb Zadran, Ankit Singh Rajpoot, David Miller, Mohit Sharma, Barinder Singh Sran, Yuvraj Singh, Chris Gayle, Ben Dwarshuis, Akshdeep Nath, Manoj Tiwary, Mayank Agarwal, Manzoor Dar, Pardeep Sahu, Mayank Dagar

    Strength: Have a number of experienced players. Are being led by a bowler, which is pretty rare in cricket. Serious hitting power in Finch and Miller. Exciting young Afghanistan spinner Zadran comes into the tournament in top form.

    Weakness: Yuvraj and Gayle are well past their prime. Take Finch and Miller out of the equation and batting looks thin. Apart from Tye and the captain, bowling looks lightweight.

    Prediction: League stage

    KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS

    Captain: Dinesh Karthik

    Coach: Jacques Kallis

    Best result: Champions (2012 and 2014)

    Squad: Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Chris Lynn, Dinesh Karthik (c), Robin Uthappa, Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Nitish Rana, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Mitchell Johnson, Shubman Gill, Vinay Kumar, Rinku Singh, Cameron Delport, Javon Searless, Apoorv Vijay Wankhade, Ishank Jaggi, Tom Curran

    Strength: Have the most destructive batsman in the world in their ranks – Lynn. However, his fitness will remain a concern. Possess an outstanding spin attack of Narine, Chawla and Yadav. The return of Russell a massive boost.

    Weakness: Mitchell Starc has pulled out which has taken the sting out of their attack. Narine’s action has been reported so will have to perform under the spotlight.

    Prediction: League stage

    MUMBAI INDIANS

    Captain: Rohit Sharma

    Coach: Mahela Jayawardene

    Best result: Champions (2013, 2015 and 2017)

    Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Pat Cummins, Evin Lewis, Suryakumar Yadav, Ben Cutting, Mustafizur Rahman, Rahul Chahar, Pradeep Sangwan, Jean-Paul Duminy, Saurabh Tiwary, Tajinder Dhillon, Akila Dhananjaya, Nidheesh M D Dinesan, Aditya Tare, Siddhesh Dinesh Lad, Mayank Markande, Sharad Lumba, Anukul Roy, Mohsin Khan, Mitchell McClenaghan

    Strength: Have exceptional line-up with incredible options. Rohit and Lewis at the top, Duminy and Hardik in the middle and Bumrah and Rahman with the ball make for an incredible team.

    Weakness: Lack experience in the spin department, which can maker or break a team’s campaign.

    Prediction: Champions

    RAJASTHAN ROYALS

    Captain: Ajinkya Rahane

    Coach: Paddy Upton

    Best result: Champions (2008)

    Squad: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Ben Stokes, Jaydev Unadkat, Sanju Samson, Jofra Archer, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jos Buttler, Darcy Short, Rahul Tripathi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Zahir Khan Pakteen, Ben Laughlin, Stuart Binny, Dushmantha Chameera, Anureet Singh, Aryaman Vikram Birla, Midhun S, Shreyas Gopal, Prashant Chopra, Jatin Saxena, Ankit Sharma, Mahipal Lomror, Heinrich Klassen

    Strength: The services of Steven Smith will be missed but have a proven match-winners in Stokes and Buttler. Also have a number of impressive young stars in Archer and Short.

    Weakness: Apart from Rahane, not a single first-choice Indian player in the team. Hardly any recognised spinner.

    Prediction: League stage

     ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE

    Captain: Virat Kohli

    Coach: Daniel Vettori

    Best result: Runners-up (2009 and 2011)

    Squad:  Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Chris Woakes, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav, Brendon McCullum, Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Quinton De Kock, Mohammed Siraj, Colin De Grandhomme, M. Ashwin, Parthiv Patel, Moeen Ali, Mandeep Singh, Manan Vohra, Pawan Negi, Tim Southee, Kulwant Khejroliya, Aniket Choudhary, Pavan Deshpande, Anirudha Ashok Joshi, Corey Anderson

    Strength: As is the case almost every year, Bangalore have a brilliant line-up with immense balance. A very good mix of all-rounders in Woakes, Moeen, Anderson and Sundar.

    Weaknesses: All good pace bowling options are overseas players which puts the team in a tough position as De Villiers and De Kock simply have to play. McCullum losing his edge and Moeen enduring a horrid time.

    Prediction: Play-offs

    SUNRISERS HYDERABAD

    Captain: Kane Williamson

    Coach: Tom Moody

    Best result: Champions 2016

    Squad: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kane Williamson (c), Manish Pandey, Rashid Khan, Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha, Siddarth Kaul, Deepak Hooda, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Carlos Brathwaite, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Shreevats Goswami, Mohammad Nabi, Chris Jordan, Basil Thampi, T Natarajan, Sachin Baby, Bipul Sharma, Ricky Bhui, Tanmay Agarwal, Alex Hales

    Strength: Despite the absence of David Warner, look strong. Williamson and Shakib provide a lot of solidity. In Bhuvneshwar and Rashid, have the best T20 bowlers in the world.

    Weakness: With IPL icon Warner out, batting looks a bit thin. Pressure will be on Dhawan and Hales to deliver at the top.

    Prediction: Play-offs

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