IPL 2014: Expected playing 11 of all 8 teams

This years IPL, like all the other previous editions, will be interesting, too, due to the fact that the careers of many established as well as emerging cricketers may well be shaped by how well they play for their respective franchises. Lets have a look at the expected playing XI of all the teams.*The foreign players are marked in bold.

#1 Royal Challengers Bangalore

Complete Squad: Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Yuvraj Singh, Parthiv Patel, Albie Morkel, Mitchell Starc, Ashok Dinda, Ravi Rampaul, Muttiah Muralitharan, Nic Maddinson, Varun Aaron, Vijay Zol , Sachin Rana, Yogesh Takawale, Abu Nechim Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shadab Jakati, Sandeep Warrier, Harshal Patel, Tanmay Mishra.

1. Chris Gayle
2. Parthiv Patel(wk)
3. Virat Kohli (c)
4. Yuvraj Singh
5. AB de Villiers
6. Vijay Zol
7. Albie Morkel
8. Ravi Rampaul
9. Abu Nechim Ahmed
10. Ashok Dinda/Varun Aaron
11. Yuzvendra Chahal

With Virat Kohli at the helm and a team determined to win the title after 6 years of trophy drought, RCB are one of the contenders to, at least, reach the play-offs. A jaw-dropping middle order is somewhat marred by an inconsistent bowling line-up. Muttiah Muralitharan has fared well in the Big Bash, but his IPL performances in the last 3 years haven't been upto the mark. With Mitchell Starc running into bad form of late, Ravi Rampaul must be picked for his ability to dart the ball back in at any surface. If the bowling unit manages to hold on, RCB may well go the extra distance this time around.

#2 Chennai Super Kings

Complete Squad: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Ashish Nehra, Mohit Sharma, Samuel Badree, Ben Hilfenhaus, Matt Henry, B Aparajith, Mithun Manhas, Ishwar Pandey, Pawan Negi, Vijay Shankar, Ronit More, John Hastings.

1. Faf du Plessis
2. Brendon McCullum
3. Suresh Raina
4. Baba Aparajith
5. MS Dhoni( c & wk)
6. Dwayne Bravo
7. Ravindra Jadeja
8. Ravichandran Ashwin
9. Ben Hilfenhaus
10. Mohit Sharma
11. Ishwar Pandey

With the most complete line-up in the league, CSK are one of the favourites, yet again. Coming back after being nearly suspended, the team must be raring to go. Baba Aparajith is a brilliant selection and will fill into the shoes of Subramaniam Badrinath. If McCullum can find consistency in this year’s IPL, CSK may well become the team to beat. Ravindra Jadeja has the perfect platform to craft his skills and adapt his bowling to the shortest format, where he has been surprisingly found wanting, so far.

#3 Mumbai Indians

Complete Squad: Rohit Sharma, Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Michael Hussey, Zaheer Khan, Pragyan Ojha, Corey Anderson, Josh Hazlewood, CM Gautam, Aditya Tare, Apoorv Wankhade, Marchant de Lange, Krishmar Santokie, Ben Dunk, Pawan Suyal, Sushant Marathe, Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Gopal, Jalaj Saxena.

1. Aditya Tare
2. Michael Hussey
3. Rohit Sharma (c)
4. Ambati Rayudu
5. Corey Anderson
6. Kieron Pollard
7. CM Gautam(wk)
8. Harbhajan Singh
9. Lasith Malinga
10. Zaheer Khan
11. Pragyan Ojha

With the loss of Maxwell and Mitchell Johnson, Mumbai don’t quite look the same team. The fate depends much on how Anderson performs through the course of IPL and the hitting form of Rohit. With Malinga unavailable at the business end of the IPL, Mumbai would expect De Lange to showcase his potential.

#4 Kings 11 Punjab

Complete Squad: David Miller, Manan Vohra, Virender Sehwag, Mitchell Johnson, George Bailey, Cheteshwar Pujara, Shaun Marsh, Wriddhaman Saha, Thisara Perera, Glenn Maxwell, Rishi Dhawan, Anureet Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Akshar Patel, Beuran Hendricks, Karanveer Singh, Murali Kartik, Shivam Sharma, Shardul Thakur, L Balaji, Parvinder Awana, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Mandeep Singh.

1. Virender Sehwag
2. Cheteshwar Pujara
3. Manan Vohra
4. George Bailey (c)
5. David Miller
6. Glenn Maxwell
7. Wriddhaman Saha(wk)
8. Rishi Dhawan
9. Mitchell Johnson
10. L Balaji
11. Sandeep Sharma

Kings XI has the strongest middle order among all the teams, with a potent weapon Sehwag at the top. This is a make or break tournament for him, and he would be desperate to perform, which would augur well for the team. Pujara will have to make the most of his chances, with Mandeep Singh waiting in the wings. Such is the batting talent that, unless Johnson fails to perform, Marsh may well have to sit out. The bowling seems vulnerable, the only flash in the pan for Kings XI.

#5 Kolkata Knight Riders

Complete Squad: Gautam Gambhir, Sunil Narine, Jacques Kallis, Robin Uthappa, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Morne Morkel, Piyush Chawla, Manish Pandey, Veer Pratap Singh, Chris Lynn, Andre Russell, SS Mandal, Pat Cummins, Debabrata Das, Suryakumar Yadav, Manvinder Bisla, Ryan ten Doeschate, Kuldeep Yadav.

1. Gautam Gambhir(c)
2. Robin Uthappa(wk)
3. Jacques Kallis
4. Manish Pandey
5. Shakib Al hasan
6. Yusuf Pathan
7. Debabrata Das
8. Piyush Chawla
9. Sunil Narine
10. Morne Morkel/Pat Cummins
11. Vinay Kumar

Kolkata Knight Riders have gambled big time this year in picking some out-of-favour/out-of-form players. The batting looks brittle and much depends on the steam Shakib and Pathan can generate. Gambhir, with his captaincy, will excel and extract the maximum out of this bowling line-up. But his batting is what matters the most, not only to the team but to the national squad, as well. While odds are not in favour of KKR, this team may well surprise everyone.

#6 Delhi Daredevils

Complete Squad: M Vijay, Kevin Pietersen, Dinesh Karthik, JP Duminy, Manoj Tiwary, Quinton de Kock, Mohammed Shami, Rahul Sharma, Saurabh Tiwary, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Shahbaz Nadeem, Ross Taylor, Milind Kumar, Wayne Parnell, HS Sharath, Jayant Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, James Neesham, Kedar Jadhav, Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Shukla, Siddharth Kaul.

1. Murali Vijay
2. Quinton de Kock(wk)
3. Kevin Pietersen
4. Dinesh Karthik(c)
5. Manoj Tiwary
6. Saurabh Tiwary
7. James Neesham
8. Nathan Coulter-Nile
9. Rahul Sharma
10. Mohammed Shami
11. Shahbaz Nadeem

Delhi have undergone a complete changeover, with Pietersen(captain) and Kirsten(coach) at the helm. The spin bowling department is the achilles heel of DD, where they would miss a potent second spinner. All in all, the prospects are good, and Pietersen will have a lot to prove in this year’s IPL. If Coulter Nile doesn’t perform, Ross Taylor can be brought in to replace him, with Unadkat coming in for an Indian batsman.

#7 Rajasthan Royals

Complete Squad: Shane Watson, Ajinkya Rahane, James Faulkner, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson, Brad Hodge, Steven Smith, Abhishek Nayar, Ben Cutting, Kane Richardson, Tim Southee, Unmukt Chand, Ankush Bains, Vikramjeet Malik, Rahul Tewatia, Ankit Sharma, Amit Mishra, Deepak Hooda, Rajat Bhatia, Kevon Cooper, Iqbal Abdulla, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pravin Tambe, Karun Nair, Dishant Yagnik.

1. Unmukt Chand
2. Ajinkya Rahane
3. Sanju Samson(wk)
4. Shane Watson(c)
5. Steve Smith
6. Brad Hodge
7. Stuart Binny
8. James Faulkner
9. Pravin Tambe
10. Iqbal Abdulla
11. Dhawal Kulkarni

RR has one of the most balanced line-ups among in the tournament. This will be a crucial tournament for Unmukt Chand, often touted as India’s future captain. There are good reserves in the bowling unit in the form of Bhatia, Cooper and Southee. Watson has looked out of touch in the last 6 months, so playing him as the captain can backfire. With Dravid as mentor, I expect Watson to improve as the tournament goes forward, though.

#8 Sunrisers Hyderabad

Complete Squad: Shikhar Dhawan, Dale Steyn, David Warner, Darren Sammy, Amit Mishra, Aaron Finch, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Brendan Taylor, Moises Henriques, Venugopala Rao, Jason Holder, S Aniruddha, Manprit Juneja, KL Rahul, Amit Paunikar, Naman Ojha, Ricky Bhui, Ashish Reddy, Chama Milind, Parveez Rasool, Prashanth Parameshwaran, Karan Sharma.

1. Shikhar Dhawan(c)
2. David Warner
3. Aaron Finch
4. Venugopala Rao
5. Darren Sammy
6. Irfan Pathan
7. Naman Ojha
8. Parveez Rasool
9. Dale Steyn
10. Amit Mishra
11. Karn Sharma
12. Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Sunrisers have a near perfect bowling line-up, and, with Tom Moody as the head coach, this team will be the dark horses of this tournament. The batting is vulnerable, especially with Ojha at 7. Brendan Taylor is an untapped talent, and it will be disappointing to not see him get a chance. It will be a do-or-die tournament for Irfan Pathan, as he is a front-runner to fill the fast bowling all-rounder slot in the national squad for the World Cup 2015. It would also be a great opportunity for Bhuvi to learn more about swing bowling from the champion himself, Dale Steyn.