A brand new season of the Indian Premier League is upon us and it promises to be yet another cricketing extravaganza. The 2016 edition of the IPL is sure to have a largely different flavour, particularly due to the absence of two extremely popular teams. The Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals were handed a 2-year suspension each for their involvement in the infamous spot-fixing scandal. However, the IPL will remain an 8-team competition for the next 2 years as well due to two new franchises replacing the suspended ones.
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Sanjiv Goenka-owned Rising Pune Supergiants and Keshav Bansal-owned Gujarat Lions are the two new teams who will be seen as part of the IPL bandwagon for the next couple of years. Both franchises have used the IPL 2016 auction and the draft arranged separately for them to great effect in building their respective teams. While the Gujarat Lions will be led by Suresh Raina, the Rising Pune Supergiants will have the iconic MS Dhoni as their skipper in the 2016 season.
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If the team combinations for the 8 IPL teams is something to go by, we may be in for a humdinger of a season which sees a tough fight for the top 4 spots. The six older franchises also struck some great deals during the auction and added more firepower to their already formidable units. With two major title contenders out of the way in the form of CSK and RR, the teams who are yet to claim their first IPL crown may be fancying their chances to bag it this time around.
Defending champions Mumbai Indians will be under immense pressure to retain their title and will have to play really well to win it for a record third time. Another team who will be contenders for achieving a third IPL triumph are the Gautam Gambhir-led Kolkata Knight Riders. With MS Dhoni at the helm of affairs, one can certainly not count out newcomers RPSG from the title contention as well. Virat Kohli's RCB side displayed a lot of fight last year and it may well be their year in the Indian Premier League.
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The Kings XI Punjab had shown just how dangerous they can be during the 2014 IPL by dominating the group stage and ending the tournament as runners-up. Veteran fast bowler Zaheer Khan has taken over as captain of the Delhi Daredevils and will want to end the team's IPL drought. The Sunrisers Hyderabad franchise has picked a strong side for this season and could be a threat to the other teams in the competition. Finally, the other new franchise, Gujarat Lions, has also grabbed a lot of quality players who could bring home a maiden title on debut.
Royal Challengers Bangalore has climbed up to the fourth spot on the points table following their convincing win over Kolkata Knight Riders. This means Delhi Daredevils have slipped to the fifth position owing to an inferior run rate compared to RCB. Gujarat Lions and Sunrisers Hyderabad are first and second on the table..
Points Table/Standings for IPL 2016
Rank | Team | Played | Won | Lost | Points | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gujarat Lions | 14 | 9 | 5 | 18 | -0.374 |
| 2 | Royal Challengers Bangalore | 14 | 8 | 6 | 16 | +0.932 |
| 3 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 14 | 8 | 6 | 16 | +0.245 |
| 4 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 14 | 8 | 6 | 16 | +0.106 |
| 5 | Mumbai Indians | 14 | 7 | 7 | 14 | -0.146 |
| 6 | Delhi Daredevils | 14 | 7 | 7 | 14 | -0.155 |
| 7 | Rising Pune Supergiants | 14 | 5 | 9 | 10 | +0.015 |
| 8 | Kings XI Punjab | 14 | 4 | 10 | 8 | -0.646 |
*Updated till Match 56, DD vs RCB
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