IPL 2018: Strengths and weaknesses of each of the 8 franchises

IPL 2018 is less than three weeks away with the first match of the Tournament being played between Chennai Super Kings and the defending champions Mumbai Indians in the Wankhede stadium on 7 April.

This year's auction was the biggest IPL auction since the first one in 2008 and each team has a number of new players in their fold this year. Fans are eagerly waiting for the IPL to start and let's have a look at the strength and weaknesses of your favourite teams.

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Kings XI Punjab

Strengths: This year's Punjab team is the franchise's strongest team in the past 11 years. They have destructive openers in Chris Gayle and Aaron Finch and have in-form Indian batsmen in Karun Nair, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, and Yuvraj Singh.

They have a destructive finisher in Miller to finish off their Innings and have ticked all the boxes as far as batting is concerned. They have brilliant spinners in Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel. This time the team would be led by Ashwin who is known to be a thinking bowler and this could prove to be the team's X-factor.

Weaknesses: The biggest weakness for the Punjab team is the lack of experienced pacers. Andrew Tye is an inexperienced bowler but has the ability to step up when required but the bigger problem would be with the Indian seamers.

Barinder Sran would most probably play as the Indian pacer and it would be interesting to see as to how he performs.

Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan won the inaugural edition of IPL in 2008

Strengths: Rajasthan Royals have managed to get back their two most important players in Steven Smith and Ajinkya Rahane. They have a brilliant batting line up as the team has a mix of experienced stars like Jos Buttler and Stokes playing along with some impressive young talents like Jofra Archer, Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi and D'Arcy Short.

The biggest strength for the team, however, is the return of Shane Warne as the mentor of the Royals. He was the captain-cum-coach of the Royals side when they won the title in the inaugural season of IPL and it would be a huge boost to get him back.

Weaknesses: Bowling is a cause for concern. They don't have a single established spinner in the side and their pace bowling also relies heavily on Jaydev Unadkat who had been leaking runs in the recently concluded Nidadhas Trophy.

Death bowling would especially be a problem if Jofra Archer is ruled out of the competition Unadkat and Stokes would have to step up in that scenario.

Delhi Daredevils

Gambhir's captaincy would be crucial for Delhi

Strengths: Delhi Daredevils were probably the best performing team in the IPL auctions this year as this team looks the best in the competition. It has some explosive strikers of the ball in Colin Munro, Glenn Maxwell, and Rishabh Pant. They would be complemented by the reliable batsmen Shreyas Iyer and Gautam Gambhir.

Delhi's batting looks the best in the tournament. Chris Morris is among the best all-rounders in T20s and he is also a part of the team

Gambhir as the team's captain would bring a huge sigh of relief on the face of a Delhi fan as the team has constantly changed their captain every year. Ricky Ponting as their coach would also bring an enormous amount of experience and it would be a great addition to the team.

Weaknesses: Bowling would be an area of concern for the team management. They have a highly talented pacer in Rabada but that is what the team has got in their bowling department. Amit Mishra was a great bowler in his time but he has been out of International cricket for a long time.

Shahbaz Nadeem hasn't proved to be a success for the Delhi team of late. Lack of good Indian pacers is another area of concern with Mohammed Shami's participation in doubt.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

SRH looks the most well-rounded team

Strengths: Hyderabad has retained their core team in the auction. They have the likes of David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, and Shakib Al Hasan in batting and the likes of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Basil Thampi, and Siddarth Kaul in bowling.

Hyderabad has the most all-round squad in IPL this year as they have players for all positions and for all conditions. It has a great support staff system with Tom Moody and VVS Laxman in their fold.

Weaknesses: SRH doesn't have any apparent weakness as such but one area which could be a cause of concern for the team would be the finishers in the team. Shakib Al Hasan and Yusuf Pathan cannot be relied on to finish the games regularly and Manish Pandey might have to take over the role of finishing whenever the duo fails.

Kolkata Knight Riders

KKR hav won the IPL in 2012 and 2014

Strengths: Kolkata Knight Riders have retained the players who were successful for them in the previous editions. They have retained Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, and Robin Uthappa. These players would undoubtedly play an important role for the team this season.

They have a brilliant spin bowling attack with the likes of Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla and Narine. Meanwhile, KKR also have good pacers in the form of Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson.

Weaknesses: The middle order would be the biggest problem for the Kolkata side. Apart from the captain Dinesh Karthik, they don't have experienced middle order batsmen. They would have to depend on an inexperienced Nitish Rana and Robin Uthappa may have to come down the order to fill the slots but the middle looks extremely brittle even if they were to come to the party.

Another possible weakness would be the place of an Indian pacer. Vinay Kumar and Kamlesh Nagarkoti would be competing for the slot but it is a source of concern for Karthik and Co.

Injuries are the biggest cause of concern for KKR right now with Chris Lynn, Andre Russell, and Mitchell Johnson all sidelined with injuries and in doubt for IPL.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

RCB would be looking to win their first IPL this year

Strengths: The top four of RCB is the most explosive one and they are capable of putting up big totals match after match. With Brendon McCullum, Quinton de Kock, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers as their top order as well as Sarfraz Khan and Washington Sundar to follow, they Bangalore outfit have one hell of a batting line-up.

RCB for the first time has picked a squad which has good strength in bowling as well. They have Chris Woakes, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, and Nathan Coulter-Nile in the pace department. The also boast of Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar in their ranks and Kohli would hope to get the best out of these bowlers.

Weaknesses: The lower middle order would be a problem for RCB as the team would depend on the young Sarfraz Khan to finish their Innings. It could be a huge responsibility to carry for the young shoulders of the 20-year-old lad from Mumbai.

Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians are the defending champions

Strengths: They have an extremely strong batting line-up with the likes of Evin Lewis, Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, JP Duminy, and Kieron Pollard in their ranks.

They have a good pace bowling attack as well with the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mustafizur Rahman and Ben Cutting. Mumbai also boast of good all-rounders in Pandya brothers who would provide stability to both the batting and bowling departments.

Weakness: The only weakness for Mumbai Indians is their spin bowling department where the team lacks genuine spinners of the ball. Krunal Pandya is not in form now and Rahul Chahar is an untested commodity at this level. Harbhajan Singh's experience would be sorely missed.

Chennai Super Kings

CSK have won the IPL twice in 2010 and in 2011

Strengths: Chennai Super Kings have retained the core of their 2015 team with the likes of MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, and Ravindra Jadeja being retained. CSK's success has always been due to the brilliant team environment and with the core being the same the team environment too would be great this year.

Experience is the biggest plus of the present Chennai side. They have a strong batting line-up and have an oversized spin attack with the likes of Jadeja, Imran Tahir, Harbhajan Sigh, Mitchell Santner, and Karn Sharma.

Weaknesses: The pace bowling department would be the biggest cause of concern for Dhoni this year. They have inexperienced pace bowlers in Lungi Ngidi and Mark Wood. They have Shardul Thakur, KM Asif, and Deepak Chahar as the Indian seamers. The pace attack is extremely inexperienced and untested at this level