Ahead of the IPL 2025, we try to rank the teams based on their strengths and weaknesses.
The 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is set to get underway on March 22 with a clash between the reigning champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Ten franchises will be fighting for the coveted title in the two-month-long tournament.
Before the show begins, we try to rank the teams based on the strengths and weaknesses of the squads for IPL 2025.
CSK full squad for IPL 2025: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Matheesha Pathirana, Noor Ahmad, Jamie Overton, Ravichandran Ashwin, Devon Conway, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Rachin Ravindra, Vijay Shankar, Sam Curran, Shaik Rashid, Anshul Kamboj, Mukesh Choudhary, Deepak Hooda, Gurjanpreet Singh, Nathan Ellis, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Rahul Tripathi, Ramakrishnan Ghosh, Shreyas Gopal, Vansh Bedi, Andre Siddarth.
The five-time champions have built their side for the spin-friendly conditions at home. They have an excellent spin attack and a bonafide death-over specialists. They have a few reliable batters and have a deep batting line-up. The middle order is their weakest link, especially if Shivam Dube doesn’t fire.
Rank: 1st
DC full squad for IPL 2025: Axar Patel (c), KL Rahul, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Ashutosh Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Faf du Plessis, Karun Nair, Abhishek Porel, Tristian Stubbs, Kuldeep Yadav, T Natrajan, Mitchell Starc, Sameer Rizvi, Mukesh Kumar, Darshan Nalkande, Vipraj Nigam, Dushmanta Chameera, Donovan Ferreira, Ajay Mandal, Manvanth Kumar, Tripurana Vijay, Madhav Tiwari.
Delhi Capitals have multiple top-order batters and have made things worse by appointing Faf du Plessis as the vice-captain. They have to play a few batters out of position. DC have a quality spin department but the pace attack lacks someone they can rely on in any phase.
Rank: 7th
GT full squad for IPL 2025: Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler, B. Sai Sudharshan, Shahrukh Khan, Nishant Sindhu, Mahipal Lomror, Kumar Kushagra, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Anuj Rawat, Manav Suthar, Washington Sundar, Gerald Coetzee, Arshad Khan, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Sherfane Rutherford, R. Sai Kishore, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Glenn Phillips, Kareem Janat, Kulwant Khejroliya.
The IPL 2022 champions have strengthened their top order with the inclusion of Jos Buttler. But, the lower middle order could be a concern. Gujarat Titans have excellent spinners in Rashid Khan and R Sai Kishore. The pace attack includes Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna, which can go either way.
Rank: 5th
KKR full squad for IPL 2025: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Quinton de Kock, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Chetan Sakariya, Anrich Nortje, Vaibhav Arora, Mayank Markande, Rovman Powell, Manish Pandey, Spencer Johnson, Luvnith Sisodia, Anukul Roy, Moeen Ali.
The defending champions have one of the best spin attacks in the competition with Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. KKR also have multiple quality batters in the line-up. Their pace bowling attack can be pretty decent if they get the selection right.
Rank: 4th
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LSG full squad for IPL 2025: Rishabh Pant (c), David Miller, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Mohsin Khan, Ravi Bisnoi, Abdul Samad, Mitchell Marsh, Avesh Khan, Mayank Yadav, Aryan Juyal, Akash Deep, Himmat Singh, M Siddharth, Digvesh Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Akash Singh, Shamar Joseph, Prince Yadav, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Arshin Kulkarni, Matthew Breetzke.
Lucknow Super Giants had an awful mega auction. They spent most of their purse on Rishabh Pant and unproven pacers. A few of those fast bowlers are currently dealing with injuries, giving them a major headache. LSG also failed to build a strong batting unit.
Rank: 10th
MI full squad for IPL 2025: Hardik Pandya (c), Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Verma, Trent Boult, Naman Dhir, Robin Minz, Karn Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Deepak Chahar, Will Jacks, Ashwani Kumar, Mitchell Santner, Reece Topley, Shrijith Krishnan, Raj Angad Bawa, Venkat Satyanarayana Raju, Bevon Jacobs, Arjun Tendulkar, Vignesh Puthhur, Suryakumar Yadav.
Mumbai Indians, the five-time champions, have a formidable first-choice playing XI. They have an outstanding batting unit and the bowling attack covers most of the bases. However, they have to rejig their plans in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence for the first couple of games.
Rank: 2nd
PBKS full squad for IPL 2025: Shreyas Iyer (c), Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Josh Inglis, Lockie Ferguson, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Shashank Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Harpreet Brar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Thakur, Marco Jansen, Harnoor Pannu, Kuldeep Sen, Priyansh Arya, Aaron Hardie, Musheer Khan, Suryansh Shedge, Xavier Bartlett, Pyla Avinash, Pravin Dubey, Nehal Wadhera.
Punjab Kings had an overhaul and brought in new faces for IPL 2025. They have several overseas all-rounders but most of them can not be relied upon to deliver consistently. Their bowling attack – pace and spin – doesn’t inspire any confidence.
Rank: 8th
RR full squad for IPL 2025: Sanju Samson (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jofra Archer, Wainindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Sandeep Sharma, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya Singh, Nitish Rana, Tushar Deshpande, Shubham Dubey, Yudhvir Charak, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Kwena Maphaka, Kunal Rathore, Ashok Sharma.
Rajasthan Royals also had a poor auction, where they failed to get any overseas top-order batter or any quality Indian spinners. In the pace department, they have to rely on Jofra Archer, who hasn’t been in the best of form.
Rank: 9th
RCB full squad for IPL 2025: Rajat Patidar (c), Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Rasikh Dar, Suyash Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Nuwan Thushara, Manoj Bhandage, Jacob Bethell, Devdutt Padikkal, Swastik Chhikara, Lungi Ngidi, Abhinandan Singh, Mohit Rathee.
RCB have a pretty good batting line-up for home conditions and most other away venues. But, lack of left-hand batters can be a major issue. In the bowling department, they have to rely heavily on Josh Hazlewood, who has fitness concerns.
Rank: 6th
SRH full squad for IPL 2025: Pat Cummins (c), Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klassen, Nitish Reddy, Adam Zampa, Atharva Taide, Abhinav Manohar, Ishan Kishan, Mohammad Shami, Harshal Patel, Rahul Chahar, Simarjeet Singh, Zeeshan Ansari, Jaydev Unadkat, Kamindu Mendis, Aniket Verma, Eshan Malinga, Sachin Baby.
The runners-up of the previous IPL season, Sunrisers Hyderabad have arguably the most destructive batting unit. Their attacking approach suits most of the batters in the squad. On paper, they have a good pace attack but it can also be very expensive. SRH can strengthen the attack with Adam Zampa in the playing XI.
Rank: 3rd
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