IPL 2019: Predicted Playing XI of all 8 teams

We are one step closer to IPL 2019. It was an eventful evening in Jaipur on Tuesday as franchises fought hard to pick players at the 2019 IPl auction. Teams will have three months time to plan and get themselves ready for the new season.

As expected, it was a quiet evening for Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians at the auction. Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Capitals, and Rajasthan Royals were the busiest of teams with some great signings.

Jaydev Unadkat and Varun Chakravarthy were the most expensive picks at the auction. The squad is all set for the new season and the focus will now slowly shift towards the game, which is scheduled to start in March.

On that note, here we take a look at the Predicted Playing XI of all the franchises in IPL 2019.

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#8 Delhi Capitals

Shreyas Iyer will lead Delhi Capitals in IPL 2019

Delhi Capitals were one of the active participants at the 2019 IPL auction. The Delhi-based franchise has never won an IPL title and a lot of thought were put into the auction to select a strong squad for next season.

Delhi Capitals had a successful trade window as they bought Shikhar Dhawan from Sunrisers Hyderabad and allowed Shahbaz Nadeem, Vijay Shankar, and Abhishek Sharma to go the other way.

Delhi Capitals had a purse of INR 25.50 Crore at the auction and they made some smart buys. Axar Patel, Hanuma Vihari, Colin Ingram and Keemo Paul joined Delhi Capitals for IPL 2019. They have some great T20 players in the squad and it looks like a strong unit. Their top order is arguably the best in IPL 2019.

Predicted XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Colin Munro, Shreyas Iyer (C), Rishabh Pant (WK), Chris Morris, Axar Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma and Trent Boult.

#7 Rajasthan Royals

Jaydev Unadkat was picked up by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 8.40 crore

Rajasthan Royals are the champions of the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the only time they have qualified for the finals. They finished fourth last season but lost to Kolkata Knight Riders in the playoffs.

They have retained only the core and released as many as 10 players before the 2019 auction. D'Arcy Short, Heinrich Klaasen, Ben Laughlin, and Jaydev Unadkat were all released from the team.

They returned for Jaydev Unadkat with a whooping INR 8.4 Crore winning bid. They have strengthened their bowling department with the signing of Varun Aaron and Oshane Thomas. Steve Smith's return makes them a solid unit for IPL 2019.

Predicted XI: Jos Buttler (WK), Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith, Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat and Varun Aaron.

#6 Kings XI Punjab

Varun Chakravarthy

Following their dismal performance at IPL 2018, Kings XI Punjab decided to release as many as 11 players ahead of the 2019 IPL auction. Aaron Finch, Axar Patel, Mohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh, Barinder Sran, and Manoj Tiwary are some of the notable names to be left out of the squad.

They went into the auction with the biggest budget of Rs 36.2 crore and they made use of it in a grand way. KXIP surprised everyone with an INR 8.4 Crore winning bid for Varun Chakravarthy after an intense bidding war.

Sam Curran, the English all-rounder, was bought for a whopping INR 7.2 Crore. They have also spent big on Nicolas Pooran, Mohammed Shami, and Prabhsimran Singh. They now have a world-class squad at their disposal for the next season.

Predicted XI: Nicolas Pooran (WK), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Mandeep Singh, Sam Curran, Ravichandran Ashwin (C), Varun Charavarthu, Majeeb ur Rahman, Andrew Tye and Ankit Rajpoot.

#5 Sunrisers Hyderabad

David Warner is expected to return with Sunrisers Hyderabad for IPL 2019

The 2018 runners-up, Sunrisers Hyderabad maintained a relatively low profile at the 2019 IPL auction. The departure of Shikhar Dhawan has created a huge dent in Sunrisers' fortunes next season.

However, they have some good signings to compensate that to an extent. Martin Guptill and Jonny Bairstow will provide cover for David Warner Warner and also play a few games. Vijay Shankar will give them options with both the bat and ball.

They have also bought Wriddhiman Saha for a much-reduced price. Saha is expected to open the batting alongside Warner and Williamson will most likely play at No.3. Sunrisers Hyderabad has arguably the best bowling unit in IPL.

Predicted XI: David Warner, Wriddhiman Saha, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Vijay Shankar, Shakib Al Hasan, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kaleel Ahmed and Siddarth Kaul.

#4 Kolkata Knight Riders

Dinesh Karthik holds key to KKR's fortunes next season

Kolkata Knight Riders had the thinnest squad at IPL 2018 and had a lot of work to do at the auction. They had also released Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, Tom Curran, Cameron Delport, Ishank Jaggi, Vinay Kumar, Apoorv Wankhade, and Javon Searles ahead of the auction.

They went all in for Carlos Brathwaite and bought him for INR 5 Crore. They have also bought some good T20 players in the form of Lockie Ferguson, Harry Gurney and Joe Denly. However, they still lack depth in the fast bowling department.

Kolkata Knight Riders have one of the best spin bowling attacks in IPL and their batting looks strong with the arrival of Carlos Brathwaite.

Predicted XI: Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik, Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla and Shivam Mavi.

#3 Royal Challengers Bangalore

Can he lead them to their first ever IPL title?

Despite having two of the best cricketers of the modern era in their batting lineup, Royal Challengers have failed to win the IPL title until now. In an effort to win the silverware next season, RCB made some drastic changes to their squad.

Ahead of the 2019 auctions, RCB released the likes of Chris Woakes, Brendon McCullum and Corey Anderson. Quinton de Kock was sold to Mumbai Indians and Mandeep Singh was traded for KXIP's Marcus Stoinis.

Also, they have made a couple of brilliant signings at the 2019 auction. Shimron Hetmyer was bought for a huge INR 4.20 Crore and the uncapped all-rounder Shivam Dube was bought for INR 5 Crore.

Predicted XI: Virat Kohli (C), Parthiv Patel (WK), AB de Villiers, Shimron Hetmyer, Akshdeep Nath, Marcus Stoinis, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammed Siraj.

#2 Mumbai Indians

Rohit Sharma is expected to lead Mumbai India next season

The three-time IPL Champions were uncharacteristically quiet in the 2019 IPL auction. Led by Rohit Sharma, Mumbai Indians finished fifth in the previous edition of Indian Premier League.

They had released the likes of Pat Cummins, Mustafizur Rahman, Akila Dananjaya, Saurabh Tiwary and JP Duminy ahead of the 2019 auction. They have managed to buy six players at the 2019 auction and Barinder Sran turned out to be their expensive signing.

They have also bought Lasith Malinga and Yuvraj Singh at their base price. Quinton de Kock was bought in the trade window and expected to open the batting. Mumbai Indians are definitely title contenders and looks a well-settled unit for IPL 2019.

Predicted XI: Quinton de Kock (WK), Evin Lewis, Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma (C) Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Jason Behrendorff, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah and Mayank Markande.

#1 Chennai Super Kings

IPL's most successful team will look to win back to back titles

Chennai Super Kings are the most successful team in IPL history. Led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Chennai has won three Indian Premier League titles so far. Chennai released just three players (Mark Wood, Kanishk Seth and Kshitiz Sharma) ahead of the 2019 auction.

They have retained the core of the team that was hugely successful last campaign. Mitchell Santner is expected to make his CSK debut after injury ruled him out last season. They went in hard for Jaydev Unadkat at the 2019 auction but were outbid by other franchises.

They stayed quiet for the most part of the auction and finally landed Mohit Sharma for INR 5 Crore. They have also bought Ruturaj Gaikwad at his base price.

Predicted XI: Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Mohit Sharma and Lungi Ngidi.