As a fan, you could not have asked for a better start to the Indian Premier League’s 17th edition. Virat Kohli, who has not been seen on a cricket field for more than 2 months playing against MS Dhoni who is spotted once a year only during this festival of cricket in India. It is CSK vs RCB at Dhoni’s home ground in Chennai to kickoff IPL 2024 and no one can wait any longer for the first ball.
Ahead of the IPL 2024 opener on Friday night, let’s take a quick look at strengths and weaknesses of each of the ten teams, one by one.

Chennai Super Kings

Starting with CSK, I think the absence of Devon Conway will be a huge blow for them. He is, at least, out for the first half of the tournament. CSK have been strong in the powerplay with the bat because of him and Ruturaj Gaikwad. It looks like Rachin Ravindra will replace him at the top. He has got runs in India and has been in great touch of late. Hence, it makes all sense to give him that opener’s role. CSK have got great depth in their batting as well with Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni and Shardul Thakur coming in at 6, 7 and 8 respectively.

The Men in Yellow always ready a side tailor-made for the home conditions. Talking about specifics, you look at their recent buys – Sameer Rizvi and Daryl Mitchell – both of whom are very good players of spin. Mitchell can also bowl some cutters. They also have several left handed batting options. I feel that in this format, you always want to strike a balance in the team, in terms of right-handed and left-handed batters. In this way, one style of batter can have access to the shorter side, and it makes it little more difficult for the bowlers. One example of this is how CSK mostly have Jadeja and Dhoni at the crease in the death overs when the pace is on. CSK work on these small areas at the auction. They use their resources well.

Shardul Thakur returns to the CSK camp. He will have a huge role to play with both bat and ball. He has seen majority of IPL success, especially with the ball, at CSK. Matheesha Pathirana is not playing this season which means some of the top performers who have helped CSK win games in the past seasons are not there and they must adapt to the changes quickly. But because they are
playing 7 out of 14 matches at Chepauk, they will be able to adapt well.
Royal Challengers Bangalore

The good thing for RCB is that their talismanic batter Virat Kohli is mentally refreshed after a break. Expect big things from Kohli, as usual, as he will be raring to go. As a team, historically, RCB are great batters against pace but poor against spin. This is why this trip to Chepauk is a challenging start for them. Can they overturn the spin scenario at Chepauk will be interesting to see. They have got Karn Sharma and Glenn Maxwell, but it is also true that spin will not be their biggest strength over there. But let’s see how RCB goes about in Chennai.

I am a massive fan of Andy Flower, RCB’s new coach. He has done a very good job in every form of the game but especially in franchise cricket, he has made a great impact. Faf du Plessis is an excellent captain and Mohammed Siraj has become the leader of the bowling attack. RCB are a very competitive side. I am expecting the Challengers to make a big challenge this year. If RCB can beat CSK in the opener and Kohli has a major role to play with the bat in it, it will give them a huge lift going into the tournament.

Mumbai Indians

I sense a bit of uncertainty surrounding Mumbai this year with Hardik Pandya replacing Rohit Sharma as captain. Suryakumar Yadav’s fitness is also a bit of a question mark, right now.
One still does not know how Hardik is going to cope with a massive responsibility as captain of five-time champions. I would be happy to see him do his job his own way.
The return of Jasprit Bumrah is great news for MI. Their spin bowling department will largely be led by Piyush Chawla with Shreyas Gopal as the alternative. MI were poor in the field last year. They will be looking forward to picking themselves up in this department. All eyes on Rohit. His international form is very good, but in recent years in IPL, he has had his share of struggles in the powerplay. Now, without the burden of captaincy, he will be hoping to get his IPL form back. Tilak Varma has not taken his chances in international cricket to establish himself but in IPL he is one of the best players.

Lucknow Super Giants

Devdutt Padikkal comes to LSG on the back of maiden match-winning half-century against England. I am assuming he is going to open the batting for LSG with Quinton de Kock as KL Rahul might drop down the batting order with a view on the T20 World Cup because I feel Indian selectors have fixed their top order in form of Rohit, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill. So, for KL Rahul to push his case further, batting down the order could be the way forward.
It will be interesting to see how their bowling lineup fares. There’s a good mix of pace and swing upfront with David Willey and Shamar Joseph with the new ball. They have lacked pace in this short while. The low and slow pitches have not really suited their cricket. They do not really have a huge spin attack. Plus, now they must look to bat Nicholas Pooran higher. He needs to play a major part in the game. LSG are yet get the best out of such a talented batter.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

SRH made a big signing of Pat Cummins at the auction, who they also named as the captain. However, I do not think Cummins has ever captained a T20 side. This will be an interesting thing to look at. Their other overseas picks will hold key. Heinrich Klaasen made a real impact last year. He is brilliant against spin and those around him will look to improve their output against the spinners. That’s why he will play an integral part in the middle overs when the spinners are on.
Wanindu Hasaranga was also a good signing for SRH. They will expect a lot from him. SRH have an established bowling attack in form of Umran Malik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan but if Hasaranga can provide the X-Factor for SRH then they will be hard to beat.

Punjab Kings

I love watching Punjab Kings play in the IPL. They are entertainers. They are the boundary hitters, always looking to push the game forward. At Punjab, captain Shikhar Dhawan will have a major role to play. He needs to play big, substantial innings this year throughout the tournament.
Jonny Bairstow, Rilee Rossouw, Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma are all big strikers of the game. No spinner added and that will be a concern for them. They can only go with Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar as spin options and hope they have a good season. They had a poor home record last season, and they will be hoping they start bossing their home games at their new home ground in Chandigarh. In fast bowling, Arshdeep has been excellent in the death overs. Kagiso Rabada hopes he has a better season than last year.

Gujarat Titans

A lot of changes in GT this year. Captain has changed as Hardik moved on. No Mohammed Shami as well which is a huge blow. He is going to be missed as Shami adds so much strength to the side. He runs hard and provides the early breakthrough. With Hardik not there in the middle order, it will take two players in form of Shahrukh Khan and Sai Sudharsan to replace the all rounder.
Huge opportunity for Shubman Gill to develop into an even better cricketer with the leadership role in his hands. He is already in a great position now in international cricket and this role could not have come at a better time. I am sure he is going to quickly learn leadership skills. It will surely add a layer of responsibility to his game. When you are a star batter who is also looking after the teammates, a sense of responsibility enters your own game.

Kane Williamson is back in GT squad, and back in IPL. He is in very good form too and is expected to bat at the top of the order. Rashid Khan will again be a key bowler. He was a little expensive to get the wickets in 2023 and would look to improve on the performance. Think the batters tried different things to score against him, by going deeper into the crease and adopting other run-scoring options. But Rashid being Rashid did find ways to pick wickets. In 2023, he was a little expensive, but it was also his best year in terms of wickets. Hopefully, he is fully fit.

Delhi Capitals

Delhi Capitals were a victim of their own pitches last year as it did not suit their style of play. They are playing some home matches this season at Vizag, so that may serve them well. Rishabh Pant’s return in the best shape is great news for DC and we wish him well on the comeback. He is an excellent captain with a good success rate in IPL. DC’s top order looks great with Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh and Pant as top four batters.

Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel control the game in the middle overs with the ball. Kuldeep has only got better and better after a brief period of struggle a few years back and I cannot wait to watch him bowl again.

DC have a good squad but what they would ideally want is pitches to suit their game. The top order would want to get off to a flying start. This is their biggest strength which gets negated by the conditions. Hopefully, in Vizag, they will get the kind of pitches they want. Marsh will play a massive role for them. It will be interesting to see how the sides bowl against Marsh because he is very strong against pace but not so effective against spin.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Like DC, I did not feel home conditions last year suited the Knight Riders. They played home games on flat surfaces despite their strength being spin. The likes of Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Suyash would have done wonders on the surfaces where the ball turned. They will hope that they get more responsive surfaces this year at Eden Gardens.
Captain Shreyas Iyer returning is a massive boost to the side. Hopefully, his back injury is a thing of the past, and he stays fit. Another year for Rinku Singh to establish himself in the finisher’s role. I will be amazed if Rinku isn’t part of the India team headed for the T20 World Cup later. I also feel that he is more than just a finisher and I hope KKR gives him the chance to bat higher up the order. Andre Russell is having a good year in T20 cricket. He has not been at his best in IPL in the last few seasons. It bodes well for KKR that he comes into IPL 2024 in good form.
I would want to play Phil Salt at the top with no Jason Roy in the ranks. Eyes, of course, will be on Mitch Starc, the most expensive player in the league. KKR will be looking for impact right at the start with the ball, an area they have struggled with in the recent past.

Rajasthan Royals

RR, in my opinion, have the best top-order across all ten teams. I am hoping Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler fire at the start. Another case of home pitches not always suiting their quality spinners. It will be interesting to see who their fourth overseas pick will be with Buttler, Tret Boult and Shimron Hetymer surely being their first 3 picks. Rovman Powerll is a handy acquisition in middle overs. Dhruv Jurel can build on his recent impressive international experiences. Avesh Khan will be vital with the new ball and potent against left handers.
Sanju Samson might be looking to keep strategy simple this year as I thought at times, RR overthought certain situations with bat and ball in hand and keep good disciplines in the field.
All ten teams can potentially win this championship and that’s the best thing about IPL. Let’s see who gets their hands on the cup as we begin an exciting two-month ride this Friday.