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IPL 2019: Predicting the starting XI of each team

MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni

The IPL 2019 auction took place in December last year and after a hectic bidding war, every team now knows their squad. Chennai Super Kings came out of the auction looking the strongest, as they have a good balance of experience and youth.

Delhi Capitals strengthened their batting unit and also added some young bowling options to their side. Kings XI Punjab strengthened their middle order and bought some good spin options. Kolkata Knight Riders, meanwhile, strengthened their pace and all-round departments.

Mumbai Indians brought in some pace options and some veterans. Rajasthan Royals brought in some fast bowling options as well as some powerful backup options. Royal Challengers Bangalore as always were looking to answer their middle order woes and made some impressive buys. Sunrisers Hyderabad continued their prudent ways as they picked just three players.

Every team would now be looking to devise their starting XI for the upcoming IPL season, and here we predict the same for all the teams.

1. Chennai Super Kings

Predicted starting XI: Ambati Rayudu, Shane Watson, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (captain & wk), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi, Imran Tahir, Mohit Sharma

The defending champions CSK look the most settled unit this year. Their batting goes as deep as Deepak Chahar, with Mohit Sharma being an astute buy. Ambati Rayudu was a revelation last year at the top and will look to continue doing the good work.

CSK have a plethora of all-rounders to choose from, and Stephen Fleming has a tough job on his hands. Their bowling depth is frightening, as MS Dhoni has 9 bowling options at his disposal which can enable him to keep his bowlers fresh for the whole tournament.

Rating: 9.5/10

2. Delhi Capitals

Predicted starting XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Rishabh Pant (wk), Hanuma Vihari, Chris Morris, Axar Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult, Amit Mishra, Sandeep Lamichhane

Delhi's auction outing was about filling the voids as they acquired Shikhar Dhawan during the transfer window. Their batting lineup looks solid with Dhawan and Shaw being capable of giving a lightning quick start at the top, and with Morris capable of doing some damage in the last couple of overs.

Axar Patel might prove to be a good buy considering that the Feroz Shah Kotla wicket assists spinners come May. Their bowling unit looks the best with the likes of Rabada and Boult capable of doing the job at any point of time in a match, mixing with it the the experienced Amit Mishra and the young sensation Lamichhane.

Overall, this looks a balanced squad which could help Delhi set their poor record straight in IPL.

Rating: 8/10

3. Kolkata Knight Riders

Predicted starting XI: Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik (captain & wk), Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, Carlos Brathwaite, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Shivam Mavi

KKR had a lot of work to do in the auction and again they made some surprise buys as the likes of Shrikant Mundhe and Nikhil Naik were roped in. KKR look good at the top as Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine would look to continue giving them good starts, with the likes of Gill, Karthik and Russell to follow.

Their pace battery looks good and young with Mavi and Krishna, while Kuldeep leads the way in the spin department. While KKR strengthened their pace and all-round department, they probably missed a batsman which may hurt them in the long run.

Rating: 6.5/10

4. Rajasthan Royals

Predicted starting XI: Jos Buttler, Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Steven Smith, Sanju Samson (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes, K Gowtham, Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Aaron, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal

RR again bought Jaydev Unadkat, this time for 8.4 crore, while they also roped in Oshane Thomas and Varun Aaron for a total of 3.5 crore as they looked to strengthen their pace attack. Their batting unit looks impressive with the likes of Smith returning to RR and Buttler itching to give good starts at the top.

While their pace roaster looks good, in addition to the spin already in the team, some other gaps were not filled efficiently. With Buttler, Stokes, Smith and Archer available for only a part of the 2019 season, the lack of powerful back-up options could hurt the Royals.

Rating: 7/10

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