IPL 2019: One key player for each team 

The 12th edition of the Indian Premier League is all set to begin in less than a month from now and it is that time of the year when fans love to get a sneak peek of how this season could go for their favourite IPL teams.

The 2019 season of the league promises to be bigger than last year with a number of new entrants playing the league for the first time. The teams which looked weak last year have addressed their weakness and the strong teams have further consolidated their squad in the recently concluded auctions.

The teams which managed to reach the playoffs last year would be looking to repeat it this year as well while the teams which finished in the bottom half of the table would be looking for redemption.

The teams would be looking at few players to help them achieve their targets and each team has an X-Factor player who could prove to be the difference between the team winning and losing a number of matches.

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#8 Rajasthan Royals - Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler is one of the most impactful players in world cricket in the shortest format of the game and his presence has been a huge boost for the English Cricket team. He has played an important role in transforming the England Cricket team into a dangerous side in ODIs and T20Is.

Buttler was not utilised properly by the Rajasthan Royals management for a large part of the IPL season last year. The team management wanted to utilise him as a finisher for the team but he struggled against spin and was a flop at the death overs.

Buttler's promotion to the top of the order worked wonders for the team at the end of the season and that was the main reason for the qualification of Rajasthan Royals to the play-offs stage of the tournament.

Buttler, at the top right from the start of the season, could be the biggest x-factor that Rajasthan will have this season. If he fires, the team might well make it to the play-offs stage of the tournament yet again.

Delhi Capitals - Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan will be having a homecoming to Delhi this year as he returns to play for the city after a gap of 11 years. He might also be promoted to lead the side for this season as Gambhir had resigned from captaincy midway last season.

Dhawan has been an extremely consistent performer for the Indian side in the shorter formats of the game. He along with Rohit has formed a potent opening pair and both of them have performed brilliantly for the Indian team.

The Capitals have faced a number of disappointing seasons in the last few years, and they desperately need a player who could lift the spirits of the side and Dhawan might just be the right man.

Dhawan will provide solidity at the top and will help the team win a number of matches when their power players fail, something which they missed last year.

Kings XI Punjab - Varun Chakravarthy

Most of the IPL fans wouldn't have even heard the name of this man before this year's auction. But he could prove to be the pick of this year's IPL auction if he can replicate his TNPL exploits in the tournament.

Mystery spinners have been a runaway hit in T20 leagues across the globe and IPL has been no exception. The likes of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Kuldeep Yadav have made a huge impact on their team's fortunes and Varun could be the latest spinner to join the list.

Varun is an extremely accurate bowler and he lets his variation do the trick for him. He is an extremely difficult bowler to pick. Being an unknown commodity in the international stage, he can deceive a number of players and may become Kings XI Punjab's trump card this year. He will come with his bag of tricks this year and is expected to trouble the opposition batsmen.

Sunrisers Hyderabad - David Warner

Sunrisers Hyderabad played last year's IPL without their most important player due to the Ball-tampering controversy. The franchise will have services of their captain this year and that should help the team in their pursuit for the title.

Warner is the most impactful opener in International Cricket and Australia has struggled ever since he was banned. SRH has handled things better than Australia in Warner's absence thanks to Kane Williamson.

With Warner back in the side, SRH would be aiming for nothing less than the title and Warner will play an important role in that pursuit. Warner has the ability to win 4-5 matches single-handedly every season and his presence is being eagerly awaited by the fans of SRH.

Warner has a brilliant record in IPL and if he continues with his phenomenal run he will make sure that SRH will reach at least the finals like they did last year.

Kolkata Knight Riders - Andre Russell

Kolkata Knight Riders were identified by cricket experts as the weakest squad of last year's IPL immediately after the auction, but the league proved it to be false. The wafer-thin batting line up of KKR stood up and performed.

Players like Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana performed beyond their abilities and even compensated for a poor season for Robin Uthappa. The rookie bowlers in Prasidh Krishna and Shivam Mavi too bowled brilliantly and made up for Mitchell Starc who missed last year's IPL due to an injury.

This year the team management has strengthened the squad to an extent with the addition of Carlos Brathwaite and Anrich Nortje but still, the bulk of the team's workload will lay on the shoulders of captain Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell.

Russell will be an extremely important player for the team because of his all-round abilities. He is a proven six-hitter in the death overs and his ability to bowl yorkers at will is an added advantage. His form will be crucial for KKR this year as well.

Royal Challengers Bangalore - Shimron Hetmyer

Royal Challengers Bangalore struggled throughout last year due to the poor performance of their star batters. The biggest failure of RCB last year was Sarfraz Khan who was assigned the role of a finisher.

Failure of Sarfraz put extra pressure on AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli and this hampered their performance as well. The absence of a proper finisher meant the duo couldn't take risks in the beginning as there were no players to take the team to a decent total if they failed.

The need for a quality finisher in RCB was clearly felt throughout last season and the team management has addressed that aspect in the Auction. Hetmyer has been given the responsibility of that role for this season.

Hetmyer has a phenomenal ability to hit sixes at will and that will come in handy in the death overs. He will have to provide the team with the final flourish, and he might well prove to be the difference between the team finishing in the bottom half and the team finishing in the top half.

Mumbai Indians - Quinton De Kock

Mumbai Indians is the second-high profile team which struggled throughout the last season. The team's captain Rohit had a poor IPL last year and Mumbai Indians always have the habit of replicating their captain's performance.

Mumbai had a consistent scorer at the top of the order, but they lacked a player who could go all out in the power play overs as Evin Lewis didn't have a great debut season in IPL as he failed on multiple occasions.

Quinton de Kock is an explosive player at the top and is a player who is capable of destroying the opposition within the power play overs itself. He hasn't been successful in IPL mainly because of his weakness against spin bowling but that would be nullified on a pitch like Wankhede.

Wankhede's pitch will be just right for a player like de Kock as the ball comes onto the bat nicely, and he is the kind of the player who loves to play through the line. He can manage against spin on this wicket and if he does that then Mumbai might have found its biggest match winner of this season.

Chennai Super Kings - Suresh Raina

Chennai Super Kings are the defending champions coming into the IPL season this year, and they would be looking to defend their title yet again. Chennai made a brilliant comeback to IPL last year and the fans couldn't have asked for anything more from their stars.

Chennai will be carrying a lot of expectations this year as well, and they will depend a lot on their Raina to fulfill those expectations. Suresh Raina has been a pillar of strength for CSK and the fans would expect the same from him this year as well.

Raina had a brilliant IPL last year scoring 445 runs at a brilliant average of 37 and a strike rate of 133. He was the main reason that Chennai went on to win the title in their comeback year.

Raina at number 3 is an extremely important batsman and with Dhoni not performing the way he was doing in 2015 Raina has to step up even more and take the entire burden on his shoulders for the team to repeat last season's heroics.