The extravaganza of the Indian Premier League is almost upon us and each team is looking to fine-tune their combinations before the tournament kicks off. While some teams like the Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad have a settled core, Kings XI Punjab and Delhi Capitals have rejigged their squad. Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders have already lost three pacers to injury and Royal Challengers Bangalore will be hoping to finally lay hands on the trophy.
With only two days to go before the 12th edition of the T20 league begins, here are the predicted starting XIs of every IPL team.
Chennai Super Kings
Captain: MS Dhoni
Predicted XI: Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (WK), Sam Billings, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Mohit Sharma, Imran Tahir
Squad: MS Dhoni (C) (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo, Karn Sharma, Shane Watson, Shardul Thakur, Ambati Rayudu, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Faf Du Plessis, Sam Billings (WK), Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Lungisani Ngidi, Asif KM, N Jagadeesan, Monu Singh, Dhruv Shorey, Chaitanya Bishnoi, David Willey, Mitchell Santner, Mohit Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad
Read: CSK preview and SWOT analysis
Delhi Capitals
Captain: Shreyas Iyer
Predicted XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (WK), Colin Ingram, Chris Morris, Axar Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Amit Mishra, Sandeep Lamichhane, Ishant Sharma
Squad: Shreyas Iyer (C), Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant (WK), Manjot Kalra, Colin Munro, Chris Morris, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Harshal Patel, Amit Mishra, Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult, Sandeep Lamichhane, Avesh Khan, Hanuma Vihari, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Ankush Bains (WK), Colin Ingram, Sherfane Rutherford, Keemo Paul, Jalaj Saxena, Bandaru Ayyappa
Read: DC preview and SWOT analysis
Kolkata Knight Riders
Captain: Dinesh Karthik
Predicted XI: Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Shubman Gill, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Lockie Ferguson, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna
Squad: Dinesh Karthik (C) (WK), Robin Uthappa (WK), Chris Lynn, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shubman Gill, Prasidh Krishna, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Carlos Brathwaite, Lockie Ferguson, Nikhil Naik, Harry Gurney, Prithvi Raj Yarra, Joe Denly, Shrikant Mundhe, KC Cariappa, Sandeep Warrier
Read: KKR preview and SWOT analysis
Kings XI Punjab
Captain: Ravichandran Ashwin
Predicted XI: Chris Gayle, KL Rahul (WK), Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Mandeep Singh, Sam Curran, Ravichandran Ashwin, Andrew Tye, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Varun Chakravarthy
Squad: Lokesh Rahul (WK), Chris Gayle, Andrew Tye, Mayank Agarwal, Ankit Rajpoot, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Karun Nair, David Miller, Ravichandran Ashwin (C), Mandeep Singh, Moises Henriques, Nicholas Pooran (WK), Mohammed Shami, Sarfaraz Khan, Varun Chakravarthy, Sam Curran, Hardus Viljoen, Arshdeep Singh, Darshan Nalkande, Prabhsimran Singh, Agnivesh Ayachi, Harpreet Brar, Murugan Ashwin
Read: KXIP preview and SWOT analysis
Mumbai Indians
Captain: Rohit Sharma
Predicted XI: Quinton de Kock (WK), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Yuvraj Singh, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Ben Cutting, Jason Behrendorff, Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Markande
Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Mayank Markande, Rahul Chahar, Anukul Roy, Siddhesh Lad, Aditya Tare, Kieron Pollard, Ben Cutting, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Jason Behrendorff, Evin Lewis, Quinton de Kock (WK), Lasith Malinga, Anmolpreet Singh, Barinder Sran, Pankaj Jaiswal, Rasikh Dar, Yuvraj Singh
Read: MI preview and SWOT analysis
Rajasthan Royals
Captain: Ajinkya Rahane
Predicted XI: Ajinkya Rahane, Jos Buttler (WK), Steve Smith, Rahul Tripathi, Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni
Squad: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Krishnappa Gowtham, Sanju Samson (WK), Shreyas Gopal, Aryaman Birla, Sudhesan Midhun, Prashant Chopra, Stuart Binny, Rahul Tripathi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mahipal Lomror, Jos, Buttler (WK), Ben Stokes, Steve Smith, Jofra Archer, Ish Sodhi, Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Aaron, Oshane Thomas, Shashank Singh, Liam Livingstone, Shubham Ranjane, Manan Vohra, Ashton Turner, Riyan Parag (WK)
Read: RR preview and SWOT analysis
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Captain: Virat Kohli
Predicted XI: Moeen Ali, Parthiv Patel (WK), Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers, Shimron Hetmeyer, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj
Squad: Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Colin de Grandhomme, Parthiv Patel (WK), Pawan Negi, Kulwant Khejroliya, Moeen Ali, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Tim Southee, Washington Sundar, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Gurkeerat Singh, Devdutt Padikal, Shivam Dube, Heinrich Klaasen (WK), Himmat Singh, Milind Kumar, Prayas Ray Barman, Akshdeep Nath
Read: RCB preview and SWOT analysis
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Captain: Kane Williamson
Predicted XI: David Warner, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Shakib Al Hasan, Vijay Shankar, Deepak Hooda, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddharth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed
Squad: Kane Williamson (C), Basil Thampi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Hooda, Manish Pandey, Natarajan, Ricky Bhui, Sandeep Sharma, Shreevats Goswami (WK), Siddarth Kaul, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Yusuf Pathan, Billy Stanlake, David Warner, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, and Shakib Al-Hasan, Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem, Abhishek Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Jonny Bairstow (WK), Martin Guptill
