It is that time of the year again. It is time for the biggest showdown in cricket. It is time for the most extravagant tournament of the year. The 18th edition of the prestigious Indian Premier League (IPL) got underway at the historic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday with defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) losing to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). The 2024 edition saw unprecedented domination of the bat – run-rates soared, there was a deluge of fours and sixes, 250-plus totals were chased down and there was carnage in the powerplay and death overs!
What does IPL 2025 have in store? Can SRH blast their way to the title this season? Will MI make a comeback and are Capitals the Dark Horse? What is ailing CSK and how are LSG and Titans placed this year?
Destructive SRH start favourites
SRH again have the firepower in batting to blast their way past opposition units this season. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma were the most destructive opening pair last season and hammered 599 runs at a strike rate of 220 including three century partnerships. Heinrich Klaasen will provide the flourish at the death and had a scoring rate of 238 in the final four overs in 2024.
Mohammed Shami was in devastating form with the ball in the IPL between 2019 and 2023 – a period in which he was the leading wicket-taker making consistent inroads with the new ball. He will be joined by Pat Cummins and Harshal Patel (last season’s Purple Cap holder) and that makes for a formidable pace trio for SRH. Adam Zampa will lead the spin unit.
MI’s comeback year?
MI have struggled and gone through a transformation after their successive triumphs in 2019 and 2020. They have made it to the playoffs just once in the last four seasons while finishing last in 2022 and 2024. However, they now seem to have built a strong nucleus of players – both experienced and new (through their scout system) and threat to pose a challenge this season.
The batting looks as explosive as ever with a rejuvenated Rohit Sharma partnering the aggressive Ryan Rickelton at the top of the order. Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Will Jacks and Hardik Pandya make for a formidable middle order.
Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult will once again share the new ball while Mitchell Santner is at his peak as a T20 bowler and will control the middle overs. The big question for MI then is the fitness Bumrah – he was the bowler of the tournament last season with 20 dismissals at a strike rate of 15.5 and economy of 6.48! Bumrah is likely to miss the first three matches for MI and others need to step up till his return.
KKR lack the firepower
KKR does not have the same firepower in their batting and bowling reserves this season. There is no Phil Salt who blasted 435 runs at a strike rate of 182 and they will also badly miss their talismanic skipper – Shreyas Iyer – who is at the top of this batting prowess in white-ball cricket. Also, Ajinkya Rahane and Manish Pandey may be liabilities in the middle-order.
The three-time champions will also miss the services of Mitchell Starc with the new ball – the left-armer was the Player of the Match in both Qualifer 1 and the Final. KKR’s biggest trump card will be Varun Chakravarthy who is in red-hot form with the ball. He will need to pick a heap of wickets in the middle overs if they are to repeat their heroics from last season. They will also need their two veteran all-rounders – Sunil Narine and Andre Russell – to fire big-time with the bat and ball.
Can DC go the distance?
Delhi Capitals have one of the best squads in the tournament – a destructive batting unit, lethal fast-bowlers and two high-class spinners – and that makes the Dark Horse for the tournament. They haven’t made the playoffs in the last three seasons.
A captaincy-relieved KL Rahul may unleash his aggressive avatar and in Jake Fraser-McGurk will have an explosive opener at the other end. The English batter blasted 330 runs at a strike rate of 234 last season. Faf du Plessis and Tristan Stubbs make for a very strong top 5 for Capitals.
The bowling looks potent with Mitchell Starc, T Natarajan and Mukesh Kumar leading the pace attack and Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel in-charge of the spin brigade.
Rajasthan Royals have a strong potential first XI and will fancy their chances of making the playoffs again. Riyan Parag and Sanju Samson both aggregated above 500 runs at strike rates of around 150 last season while Yashasvi Jaiswal has been the leading scorer for Royals in the last two seasons with an aggregate of 1060 runs at a strike rate of 160! Jofra Archer will lead the pace attack while the Sri Lankan pair of Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga form a potent spin duo in the middle overs.
Chennai Super Kings have retained a number of veteran players who may be in the twilight of their careers – Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tripathi and Deepak Hooda to name a few – and that may haunt them this season. Rachin Ravindra will be key for them at the top of the order.
Punjab Kings have completely overhauled their contingent and in Shreyas Iyer have a confident leader who is also at the top of his game as a batter. However, the batting lacks a bit of pedigree. PBKS also do not have a world-class right-arm pacer.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru have brought in Salt to partner Virat Kohli at the top of the order but again look top-heavy and the lower-order is a concern. They also lack a top-class spinner which may haunt them this season.
Lucknow Super Giants have invested too much in their skipper, Rishabh Pant while not building their fast-bowling reserves – they lack a quality overseas pacer.
The Titans will rely heavily on their opening partnership of Jos Buttler and Shubman Gill to provide the impetus at the top of the order.
Based on the composition of their squads and the strength and weaknesses and form of their best playing XI, Sunrisers should storm their way into the playoffs. Delhi Capitals, Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians are likely to be the other three teams in the top 4.
