Predicted playing XI of all the teams for their first match
The battle lines are drawn for the most anticipated T20 tournament in the world as the Indian Premier League enter its 12th year. The tournament is embraced by some of the top cricketers of the world every year.
Howbeit, this year things will be a little different as a lot of high profile players will miss a part or the entire season to give more time to the World Cup preparations. It has made the task for all the team management even more challenging as they will have to manage without their top players in the latter half of the tournament.
Also, not just the foreign players, the BCCI is also in talks with the franchises over managing the workload of the World Cup-bound Indian players.
Considering all these factors, the selection of the playing XI will be extremely crucial for the franchises. The playing XI in the first round of matches is on expected lines as players will be selected on the basis of previous records and reputations.
Here are the probable playing XIs of all the 8 teams for their first matches;
#8 Kings XI Punjab
Kings XI Punjab will begin it's IPL 2019 campaign against Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur on 25th March. Kings from Punjab made a promising start to the 2018 season but couldn't keep the momentum going as they slumped in the latter half of the tournament last year to miss out on the playoff spot.
However, the team management has made some big changes in the squad and will be hoping for a change of fortunes this year.
Chris Gayle has been in tremendous form for West Indies and will be a big threat for the opposition bowlers. Mayank Agarwal in all likelihood will play at number 3 given the kind of form he has been in domestic competitions, thus, keeping Mandeep Singh out of the side.
David Miller led South Africa the last time they played T20 cricket, however, in all likeliness, he is set to miss the Kings' opening encounter.
Kings will have to choose between Moises Henriques or Sam Curran for the all-rounder's spot in the side. It will be interesting to see whether the Kings get the likes Prabhsimran Singh and Varun Chakravarthy right into the action or introduce them later.
Predicted playing XI - Chris Gayle, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Moises Henriques, Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Varun Chakravarthy, R Ashwin (C), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Andrew Tye, Mohammed Shami