IPL 2022: The most unpredictable season yet?

The 15^th season of the Indian Premier League gets underway on March 26 with defending champions Chennai Super Kings facing last year’s runners-up Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium.

In a packed, COVID-impacted cricket calendar the arrival of the sport’s glitziest and most lucrative T20 franchise league offers fans of the IPL a chance to put on their favourite jerseys and clear their lungs in vocal support, be it from their homes or the four venues identified, but such is the nature of today’s game that several franchises are missing key players as the tournament starts while teams like South Africa will miss five first-choice names for a Test series.

Australia’s contingent in the IPL will not be able to link up with their respective franchises for the two-month tournament until April 5 on account of the limited-overs leg of their ongoing Pakistan tour. On the international front, South Africa will not be able to field their frontline pace attack for two Tests versus Bangladesh after Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen chose to play in the IPL, as well as batsmen Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen. This prompted South Africa’s Test captain Dean Elgar to comment: “This is where you see where players’ loyalty lies. They mustn’t forget that Test cricket or one-day cricket got them into the IPL and not the other way around.”

This has been the case with the IPL since its popularity increased over 14 seasons, and opinions remain polarized on the club versus country debate. But there is no denying that when it comes to T20 franchise cricket, no tournament grabs your attention like the IPL.

This year’s IPL comprises 70 matches played in a bio-secure environment across four venues in Mumbai (three) and Pune (one), with the location of the final yet to be determined. Mumbai will host 55 games and Pune 15, which means that air travel will not be required for the ten franchises. Each team will play four matches at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium and DY Patil Stadium, and three each at the city’s Brabourne Stadium and the MCA International Stadium in Pune.

The 2022 edition also welcomes two new franchises in Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans, who forked out a combined $1.7 billion to join the jamboree. Of the two, Lucknow look to have assembled a very good and balance squad, and can boast a terrific first-choice XI if everyone stays fit. This is definitely a team to watch out for, and one that could potentially reach the IPL 2022 play-offs.

The other strong teams post this year’s mega player auction are Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings, based on personnel. But you can never discount the two teams that have, combined, won nine of the 14 IPL titles in the league’s history: Mumbai Indians and CSK. Royal Challengers Bangalore, under new skipper Faf du Plessis, will hope to overturn a rather sorry record in the IPL and win the elusive title. These factors, added to the no home advantage factor, add up to what looks to be the most unpredictable IPL season so far.

Ahead of the 15^th edition of the IPL, here’s a look at the ten franchises and how they stack up.

Mumbai Indians

Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Fabien Allen, Anmolpreet Singh, Arshad Khan, Murugan Ashwin, Basil Thampi, Dewald Brevis, Rahul Buddhi, Jasprit Bumrah, Tim David, Ishan Kishan (wk), Aryan Juyal (wk), Mayank Markande, Riley Meredith, Tymal Mills, Kieron Pollard, Ramandeep Singh, Daniel Sams, Sanjay Yadav, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Tilak Varma, Jaydev Unadkar, Surkakumar Yadav

Likely starting XI: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav (when available), 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Tim David, 7 Daniel Sams, 8 Jaydev Unadkat, 9 Murugan Ashwin, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Basil Thampi

Who they are missing: Jofra Archer was ruled out of the season as he continues to recover from an elbow injury.

2021 result: Eliminated in league stage

Best finish: Winners (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020)

Chennai Super Kings

Squad: MS Dhoni (capt), Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa, Dwayne Bravo, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Maheesh Theekshana, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Simarjeet Singh, Devon Conway, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Subhranshu Senapati, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, C Hari Nishaanth, N Jagadeesan, Chris Jordan, K Bhagath Varma

Likely starting XI: 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Moeen Ali (when available), 4 Robin Uthappa, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 MS Dhoni (capt/wk), 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Adam Milne, 10 KM Asif, 11 Tushar Deshpande

Who they are missing: Deepak Chahar, their costliest purchase at Rs 14 crore, is expected to miss the entire season with injury. Moeen Ali might be out for two games after a visa snag.

2021 result: Winners

Best finish: Winners (2010, 2011, 2018, 2021)

Delhi Capitals

Squad: Rishabh Pant (capt), Prithvi Shaw, Axar Patel, Anrich Nortje, David Warner, Mitch Marsh, Shardul Thakur, Mustafizur Rahman, Kuldeep Yadav, Ashwin Hebbar, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, KS Bharat, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Chetan Sakariya, Lalit Yadav, Ripal Patel, Yash Dhull, Rovman Powell, Pravin Dubey, Lungi Ngidi, Tim Seifert, Vicky Ostwal

Likely starting XI: 1 Prithvi Shaw, David Warner (when available), 3 Mitchell Marsh (when available), 4 Rishabh Pant (capt/wk), 5 Sarfaraz Khan, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Anrich Nortje (when available), 11 Chetan Sakariya

Who they are missing: While Anrich Nortje’s fitness is expected to keep him out for a few matches, Capitals will be without Lungi Ngidi and Mustafizur Rahman for their first match, David Warner for two games and Mitchell Marsh for three.

2021 result: Play-offs

Best finish: Runners up (2020)

Kolkata Knight Riders

Squad: Shreyas Iyer (capt), Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Nitish Rana, Shivam Mavi, Sheldon Jackson (wk), Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Rasikh Dar, Chamika Karunaratne, Baba Indrajith, Ashok Sharma, Pratham Singh, Abhijeet Tomar, Sam Billings (wk), Aaron Finch, Ramesh Kumar, Mohammad Nabi, Aman Khan, Umesh Yadav

Likely starting XI: 1 Venkatesh Iyer, 2 Aaron Finch (when available), 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Sheldon Jackson (wk), 6 Andre Russell, 7 Sunil Narine, 8 Pat Cummins (when available), 9 Shivam Mavi, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Varun Chakravarthy

Who they are missing: Aaron Finch, the replacement for Alex Hales, and Pat Cummins are expected to miss KKR’s first four games. Tim Southee might leave the tournament ahead of the playoffs with New Zealand playing a Test series in England.

2021 result: Runners-up

Best finish: Winners (2012, 2014)

Punjab Kings

Squad: Mayank Agarwal (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada, Jonny Bairstow, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar, Shahrukh Khan, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Ishan Porel, Liam Livingstone, Odeon Smith, Sandeep Sharma, Raj Angad Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Prerak Mankad, Vaibhav Arora, Writtick Chatterjee, Baltej Dhanda, Ansh Patel, Nathan Ellis, Atharva Taide, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Benny Howell

Likely starting XI: 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Mayank Agarwal (capt), 3 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 4 Liam Livingstone, 5 Raj Angad Bawa, 6 Shahrukh Khan, 7 Odean Smith, 8 Harpreet Brar, 9 Kagiso Radaba, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Rahul Chahar

Who they are missing: Rabada will miss the team’s opener and Jonny Bairstow the first two games as he is part of England’s Test squad.

2021 result: Runners-up

Best finish: Winners (2012, 2014)

Rajasthan Royals

Squad: Sanju Samson (capt/wk), Jos Buttler (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, R Ashwin, Trent Boult, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Riyan Parag, KC Cariappa, Navdeep Saini, Obed McCoy, Arunay Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel, Tejas Baroka, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubham Garhwal, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie Van Der Dussen, Daryl Mitchell

Likely starting XI: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Jos Buttler, 3 Devdutt Padikkal, 4 Sanju Samson (capt/wk), 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 Jimmy Neesham, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Trent Boult, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Who they are missing: No one.

2021 result: Eliminated in league stage.

Best finish: Winners (2008)

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Squad: Faf du Plessis (capt), Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Shahbaz Ahmed, Anuj Rawat (wk), Akash Deep, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Sherfane Rutherford, Jason Behrendorff, Suyash Prabhudessai, Chama Milind, Aneeshwar Gautam, Karn Sharma, David Willey, Luvnith Sisodia, Siddharth Kaul

Likely starting XI: 1 Faf du Plessis (capt), 2 Anuj Rawat, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Glenn Maxwell (when available), 5 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 6 Mahipal Lomror, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 8 Shahbaz Ahmed, 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Josh Hazlewood (when available), 11 Mohammed Siraj

Who they are missing: Glenn Maxwell is due to miss two matches and Josh Hazlewood the first three.

2021 result: Eliminated in play-offs.

Best finish: Runners-up (2011, 2016)

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Squad: Kane Williamson (capt), Abdul Samad, Umran Malik, Washington Sundar, Nicholas Pooran (wk), T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Priyam Garg, Rahul Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma, Kartik Tyagi, Shreyas Gopal, Jagadeesha Suchith, Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Romario Shepherd, Sean Abbott, R Samarth, Saurabh Dubey, Shashank Singh, Vishnu Vinod (wk), Glenn Philips, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Likely starting XI: 1 Rahul Tripathi, 2 Aiden Markram, 3 Kane Williamson (capt), 4 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 5 Priyam Garg, 6 Abhishek Sharma, 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Romario Shepherd, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Umran Malik, 11 T Natarajan

Who they are missing: No one.

2021 result: Eliminated in league stage.

Best finish: Winners (2016)

Lucknow Super Giants

Squad: KL Rahul (capt/wk), Marcus Stoinis, Ravi Bishnoi, Quinton de Kock (wk), Deepak Hooda, Manish Pandey, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder, Mark Wood, Avesh Khan, Ankit Rajput, K Gowtham, Dushmanta Chameera, Shahbaz Nadeem, Manan Vohra, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Karan Sharma, Evin Lewis, Mayank Yadav, Kyle Mayers

Likely starting XI: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 KL Rahul (capt), 3 Manish Pandey, 4 Deepak Hooda, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Krunal Pandya, 7 Jason Holder, 8 K Gowtham, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Avesh Khan, 11 Dushmantha Chameera

Who they are missing: England fast bowler Mark Wood is out of the season, and no replacement has been named.

Gujarat Titans

Squad: Hardik Pandya (capt), Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Lockie Ferguson, Abhinav Sadarangani, Rahul Tewatia, Noor Ahmed, Sai Kishore, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Dominic Drakes, Darshan Nalkande, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, Pradeep Sangwan, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Matthew Wade (wk), Varun Aaron, B Sai Sudharshan

Likely starting XI: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Matthew Wade, 3 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 David Miller, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Yash Dayal

Who they are missing: Jason Roy has opted out of IPL 2022 and in his place, Titans signed Rahmanullah Gurbaz.