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When the auction was taking place, I was watching it with suppressed dismay at the proceedings as so many selections did not make any sense. I thought that management was only bothered about star attraction and not the team balance. Most of the teams have spent so much money on foreign players that they have 8 to 10 foreign players while we know only four can make the combination.

With the matches scheduled to be played in Mumbai and Pune, where you come in line and hit through. It is expected to be full of runs and lots of close matches. Chasing will be the norm as dew affects the gripping of the ball and the last over finish will not be a surprise.

We have analyzed teams on the basis of probable lineups, and given ratings on batting, all-rounders, and bowlers.

The marks are on the scale of 10, so total ratings are arrived at by adding all three aspects and some extra points given on the basis of Captain and the presence of some reputed Match winners.

Further, we wish to state that there are ten teams and two groups have been made. In total 70 league matches will be played and four playoff matches. In view of this if a team does not have enough batters or bowlers as injury substitutes then their rating is adversely affected.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK)

Batters

Rituraj Gaimwad, RobinUthappa, Ambati Rayudu, and Devon Conway. 

As batsmen are less in number and the added factor that Uthappa and Rayudu are prone to injury so a rating of 6.

All-rounders

Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali, MS Dhoni, Shivam Dube, and Dwayne Bravo.

They boast of great all-rounders who are match-winners so a rating of 9  is justified. They have the capability to chase any score.

Bowlers

Chris Jordan, Adam Milne, Deepak Chahar and Rajvardhan Hangargekar.

Bowling is weak as Deepak Chahar is injured. Other bowlers can leak runs so the rating is 6 only.

The overall rating is increased to  23 from 21 as MS Dhoni brings the edge. 

Rating: 23/30

Delhi Capitals (DC)

Batters 

Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Yash Dhull, Powell, and Sarfaraz Khan.

Prithvi and Warner can destroy any attack on flat pitches of Mumbai and Pune but others are weak links so a rating of 7.

All-rounders/ Wicket-keepers

Rishabh Pant, Tim Seifert, S Bharat, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, and M Marsh.

As only 4 foreign players can be picked, we give them a rating of 7.

Bowlers

Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Mustafizur Rahman are the foreign bowlers and Indian bowlers are

Chetan Sakariya, Khaleel, Kuldeep, Vivek Ostwal, and Lalit Yadav. So they get a rating of 9.

overall it totals to 23, but we are increasing to 25 as no of match winners are many.

Rating: 25/30

Mumbai Indians (MI)

Batters

Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Surya Kumar Yadav. D Brevis.

So a rating of 7 only as in case of injuries replacement is not available and if the ball moves then Ishan Kishan and  Surya become ineffective.

All-rounders

Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Jayant Yadav and Fabian Allen

Pollard is past his peak and Tim David is inexperienced and for that reason, they get a rating of 5 only.

Bowlers

Bumrah, Meredith, Tymal Mills, Sams, Jayant Yadav, M Ashwin.

So spin is weak but the pace is good so a rating of 7.

Overall a rating of  22 instead of 19 as Rohit can win owing to his captaincy.

Rating: 22/30

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)

It is a new-look team with a new Captain.

Batters

Aaron Finch, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitesh Rana and Shreyas Iyer

So batting is very good for flat pitches. Venkatesh and Finch can go after bowling and Shreyas can hold one end. So a rating of 8 is justified.

All-rounders

Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Sam Billings, Mohd Nabi.

Three of them will play the match and both Nitish Rana and Venkatesh can bowl. Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Nabi can turn the tide, so a rating of 8.

Bowling

Pat Cummins, Shivam, Varun, Umesh Yadav supported by Russell, Narine, and Nitish Rana make a terrific bowling Unit. So my rating is 8.

Overall total comes to 24 and I am increasing to 25 as I feel that Shreyas is the future captain.

Rating: 25/30

Punjab Kings (PBKS)

Batters

Mayank Agarwal, Shikhar Dhawan, and Jonny Bairstow

As no of batters are very less and injury can decapitate them so I have rated them at 4.

All-rounders

Livingstone, Shahrukh, Raj Bawa, and Rishi Dhawan

As Livingstone was a star of 100 tournaments, Raj Bawa is the future and Shahrukh is talented so I am rating them  8.

Bowlers

Rabada, Odean Smith, A Deep, Sandeep Sharma, Rahul Chahar, and Harpreet are decent but the spinning combination is not threatening so I am rating them 6. The total rating goes to 18, but I am increasing it to 20 as Dhawan and Rabada can win matches on their own.

Rating: 20/30

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)

Mark wood is a big blow and whether Taskin is available or not is still to be seen. A new team but I have never been impressed by Rahul as captain. Gautam Gambhir, the mentor, has stated that he wants Rahul as a batter more than as Captain, which sums up my comment.

Batters

Rahul, Evin Lewis, Manish Pandey, Quinton De Kock, and Manan Vohra are good. They can rattle any bowling. so I have given them a rating of 8.

All-rounders

Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Hooda, K Gowtham. As there are big hitters, this team can continue to attack in spite of losing wickets. However, all can not play as caps on foreign players. So, a rating of 7 is given.

Bowlers

Avesh, Ankit Rajpoot, Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi , Karan Sharma .

As pace bowlers are less and it may affect their performance so a rating of 6 is apt. If Taskin comes then this team will be strengthened.

The overall rating is 21 and no extra points as Rahul is yet to prove himself of captaincy.

Rating: 21/30

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)

They retained Kane Williamson, Samad, and Umar Malik. However, explosive innings by Williamson in the T20 world cup do justify their decision.

Batters

Kane Williamson, Rahul Tripathi, Nicholas Pooran, Markram, and Priyam Garg. This is a decent unit and it will depend on Pooran to accelerate so my rating is 7.

All-rounders

Washington Sundar, Glen Phillips Samad, and Abhishek Sharma.

If Phillips is selected then Markram will be dropped. Others are not consistent so I am giving them a rating of 6.

Bowlers

Umar Malik, Marco Jensen, Romario Shepherd, Kartik Tyagi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Shreyas Gopal are good in pace but good spinners are missing. I am giving them a rating of 6.

The overall rating is 19, but I am making it 21 as Williamson can utilize them better.

Rating: 21/30

Gujarat Titans (GT)

They started their auction very late and it shows in their selection of players. The loss of Jason Roy has affected them.

Batters

Shubman Gill, Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Mathew wade is not promising combination. Miller is past his peak, Abhinav will be overawed so I am giving them a rating of 5.

All-rounders

Hardik Pandya, Vijay Shanker, Saha, Drakes, and Tewatia are ok but not great so I am giving a rating of 7 only on account of Pandya.

Bowlers

Rashid Khan, Alzarri Joseph, Mohd Shami, Lockie Ferguson, Noor Ahmed, and Sai Kishore are a good combination and their bowling is great in both spin and pace so it gets a rating of 8.

Overall the total rating comes to 20 but I am making it 22 on account of the match-winning capabilities of Hardik and Rashid Khan.

Rating: 22/30

Rajasthan Royals (RR)

They have done some great planning for the auction and it is reflected in their team.

Batters

Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler Yashasvi, Devdutt Paddikkal, Van der Dussenl, Shimron Hetmyer, and Karun Nair are a lethal combination and they will continue to attack. So I am giving them a rating of 9.

All-rounders

James Neesham, Daryl Mitchell, and Riyan Parag are not too exciting so they get a rating of 5.

Bowlers

Ashwin, Coulter Nile, Navdeep Saini, Chahal, Boult, and Prasidh Krishna can wreck any team so they get a rating of 8 for their bowling.

Overall their rating goes to 22 but I am adding two more for their bowling and match-winners like Samson and Buttler to make it 24.

Rating: 24/30

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)

Faf Du Plessis is the new captain but during the auction, the sense to pick good Indian batters was missing.

Batters

Virat Kohli, Maxwell, Faf Du Plessis. With only 3 batters that too, two of them foreigners doesn't make any sense so I give them a rating of 5.

All-rounders

David Willey, Lomror, Shahbaz, Rutherford, Hasaranga. They are good but can not be picked as the limit of 4 is there so I am giving them a rating of 6.

Bowlers

Harshal Patel, Siraj, Hazlewood, Behrendorff, Siddharth Kaul, Karn Sharma are great bowling units but as only 4 players from abroad can be picked so it will be an issue. Spin is also weak so  I am giving them a rating of 7.

The overall rating is 18 but we can increase it by 2 to 20 as Virat, Faf, and Maxwell are match-winners and can play 20 overs.

Rating: 20/30

So one can observe that ratings range from 20 to 25. It means that all teams can beat any team on their day. Individual performance will dictate the outcome. As most of the teams do not have great batting units but comparatively bowling units are the key.

Have a great IPL, from 26th March to 29th May. Hopefully, new heroes like Ruturaj, Venkatesh, Devdutt, and Avesh Khan emerge. Watch out for Raj Bawa, Yash Dhull, Ravi Bishnoi, Tim David.

Happy viewing for two months.

Cover Credits: IPLofficial