IPL 2015: Experts' picks

Kolkata Knight Riders head into IPL 2015 as defending champions

Sportskeeda’s cricket writers have made their predictions for the 2015 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in five categories: Champions, Top Four, Young Player of the Tournament, Orange Cap winner and Purple Cap winner.

Champions

<Yash Asthana: I expect last year’s runners-up, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), to go one step further and win their first IPL crown. The George-Bailey led side has an enviable batting line-up including Glenn Maxwell, David Miller and Virender Sehwag, which has been strengthened further with the addition of Murali Vijay. The bowling looks strong too with a balanced attack.

<Theviyanthan Krishnamohan: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has the best captain in the IPL in Gautam Gambhir, whose aggressive tactics have galvanized a team of mediocre individuals to look like giant killers. With a remodeled action, much cannot be expected off Narine, but the KKR-is-nothing-without-Narine sham may turn out to be the red-herring that enshrouds the other dangerous players in the side from the opponent’s attention.

<Aaditya Narayan: As usual, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have an amazingly strong squad at their disposal. There is MS Dhoni, who is as good a captain as there is, in Indian conditions in particular. The inclusion of Kyle Abbott strengthens the bowling considerably.

<Ishan Sen: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are my pick to win the IPL for the second successive season. They have a largely unchanged team, which means that the Knights will be riding strong on their much-vaunted bowling line-up now that Narine has been cleared by the BCCI. A couple of enigmatic packages in KC Cariappa and Kuldeep Yadav add to the chances of defending their title.

<Elliot Cornish: Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) were a delight to watch last year with their immensely powerful batting lineup and they will rue not winning a first title that looked seemingly in their grasp. Their bowling is not the tournament's strongest but as proven 12 months ago, Punjab can chase down almost anything. I think this is the year they break their duck.

Top Four

Yash Asthana: CSK have an excellent record of qualifying from the league stage and the trend is likely to continue. Defending champions KKR and RR, who make the best use of their finite resources, should finish in the top 4 in the league phase too. Kings XI Punjab, who lost to KKR in the final, should also be up there with the top contenders for the trophy.

<Theviyanthan Krishnamohan: KKR, CSK and KXIP are shoo-ins for the final four considering the kind of squads they boast of, but the fourth spot might go either to Mumbai Indians or Rajasthan Royals. But Mumbai’s bowling may give them the edge as it did in last year’s edition.

<Aaditya Narayan: CSK, as mentioned earlier, won’t only get into the top four once again but reclaim their crown as IPL champions. Kings XI Punjab, meanwhile, have retained the core of last year's very strong squad, and the inclusion of Murali Vijay only strengthens them.

The standout team with respect to the auction earlier this year were the Sunrisers Hyderabad. They have more impact players now, with the addition of Kane Williamson, Eoin Morgan and Trent Boult. I thoroughly expect Warner to be aggressive as captain, and use Steyn and Boult to dent oppositions.

Rajasthan Royals are the least popular choice of my top 4 contenders. But with the likes of Steve Smith, Ajinkya Rahane and Shane Watson present among others, the Royals are the dark horses, as has been the norm for each of the last 7 seasons

<Ishan Sen: Apart from Kolkata Knight Riders who I’m picking as champions, Vijay Mallya’s RCB look a good bet to reach the final four this time around.

Chennai Super Kings appear impressive as always with the presence of Michael Hussey and Matt Henry further bolstering the team.

The fourth place seems to be a three-way battle between Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad. However, Mumbai’s teamwork and the Rohit Sharma-Aaron Finch factor might tilt the odds in their favour.

<Elliot Cornish: In addition to Kings XI Punjab who should lift their first ever IPL trophy, Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders are the 3 teams that should make the playoffs of this year’s IPL.

Young Player of the Tournament

Yash Asthana: The 23-year-old Karun Nair from Karnataka, who plays for the Rajasthan Royals, is considered among the most talented young batsmen in domestic cricket. He’s likely to open the batting for the Royals – a team that proactively encourages young talent – and Nair will look to justify the faith by scoring big and giving good starts to his team.

Theviyanthan Krishnamohan: Chinaman bowlers like Kuldeep Yadav, with the angle they operate from, are always difficult customers to deal with for the batsmen and Yadav’s well-disguised googlies can trouble many batsmen, especially if the Eden Gardens is going to take turn. The presence of Brad Hogg in the squad will also benefit him greatly.

<Aaditya Narayan: Axar Patel won the award last season, and I’m backing him to do it once more. Although the Kings XI have many glamour players like Virender Sehwag, David Miller and Glenn Maxwell, Axar was a consistent performer last season. Should he stick to what he has done so far and not try anything fancy, Axar will walk away as the best young player in the tournament at a canter.

<Ishan Sen: Kuldeep Yadav showed that he is one of the brightest young prospects in Indian cricket today by playing an integral role in KKR’s runners-up finish during the 2014 CL T20. If he continues his progress during the upcoming IPL season, an India cap might not be all that far away.

Elliot Cornish: Kuldeep Yadav is considered among the most promising talents in India currently and poses a unique challenge to batsmen with his left-arm chinaman. Considering that he will be playing most of his games on spin-friendly surfaces in Kolkata, he is likely to impress and bag the young player of the tournament.   

Orange Cap

<Yash Asthana: Steven Smith enjoyed a prolific run in the Aussie summer, which concluded with consecutive 50+ scores in the World Cup. The batsman is likely to play at number 3 position for the Rajasthan Royals and I expect him to continue his rich run-scoring form in the IPL. 

Theviyanthan Krishnamohan: Should Rohit Sharma decide to open the innings for his team, which is likely considering the lack of options at the top for Mumbai, his calculated big hitting might put him at the helm of the table.

Aaditya Narayan: With all the media storm surrounding Virat Kohli's performances in the latter part of the World Cup, the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain will be intent on making the IPL count. With Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers there as usual, it is the additional presence of the Tamil Nadu duo of Subramaniam Badrinath and Dinesh Karthik in the middle order that will give Kohli the freedom to express himself.

Ishan Sen: Suresh Raina is the only to have scored over 3000 runs in the IPL so far and over 400 runs in each season of the IPL. Having not missed a single game for CSK in his IPL career so far, it won’t be a huge surprise if he finishes up as the leading run-scorer of this year’s tournament.

<Elliot Cornish: AB de Villiers seems close to perfecting the art of batting, he will likely work further magic for Bangalore. He has been playing ODIs like T20s, so one can only imagine what he has planned now the latter format has arrived. We may be out of superlatives for AB in six weeks time.

Purple Cap

Yash Asthana: Ravichandran Ashwin was very impressive in the World Cup with his innovative and aggressive bowling. He is the go-to bowler for skipper Dhoni, and just like Smith, Ashwin is likely carry his good form into the IPL and scalp plenty of wickets for his side.

<Theviyanthan Krishnamohan: Mitchell Starc’s avatar as the new yorker king is destined to trouble most batsmen in this year’s IPL and it won’t be a surprise if he manages to snatch the purple cap.

<Aaditya Narayan: This is the tournament where Ravichandran Ashwin made a name for himself, but he has fallen flat in the last couple of seasons. Ashwin had a rousing revival in the World Cup, and back home in familiar pastures, he will be a huge weapon for MS Dhoni.

<Ishan Sen: Trent Boult was absolutely outstanding in the recently concluded World Cup, and although conditions in India aren’t going to be as favourable to the New Zealander, I’m still backing him to come to the fore and win the purple cap.

Elliot Cornish: With his participation now assured, Kolkata's Sunil Narine is the prime candidate to claim the purple cap this year. With a haul of over 20 wickets in each of the three IPLs he has played in, the Trinidadian is the most dependable spinner in the competition and arguably the world.