IPL 2019: Predicting the starting XI of each team

The IPL 2019 auction took place in December last year and after a hectic bidding war, every team now knows their squad. Chennai Super Kings came out of the auction looking the strongest, as they have a good balance of experience and youth.

Delhi Capitals strengthened their batting unit and also added some young bowling options to their side. Kings XI Punjab strengthened their middle order and bought some good spin options. Kolkata Knight Riders, meanwhile, strengthened their pace and all-round departments.

Mumbai Indians brought in some pace options and some veterans. Rajasthan Royals brought in some fast bowling options as well as some powerful backup options. Royal Challengers Bangalore as always were looking to answer their middle order woes and made some impressive buys. Sunrisers Hyderabad continued their prudent ways as they picked just three players.

Every team would now be looking to devise their starting XI for the upcoming IPL season, and here we predict the same for all the teams.

1. Chennai Super Kings

Predicted starting XI: Ambati Rayudu, Shane Watson, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (captain & wk), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi, Imran Tahir, Mohit Sharma

The defending champions CSK look the most settled unit this year. Their batting goes as deep as Deepak Chahar, with Mohit Sharma being an astute buy. Ambati Rayudu was a revelation last year at the top and will look to continue doing the good work.

CSK have a plethora of all-rounders to choose from, and Stephen Fleming has a tough job on his hands. Their bowling depth is frightening, as MS Dhoni has 9 bowling options at his disposal which can enable him to keep his bowlers fresh for the whole tournament.

Rating: 9.5/10

2. Delhi Capitals

Predicted starting XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Rishabh Pant (wk), Hanuma Vihari, Chris Morris, Axar Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult, Amit Mishra, Sandeep Lamichhane

Delhi's auction outing was about filling the voids as they acquired Shikhar Dhawan during the transfer window. Their batting lineup looks solid with Dhawan and Shaw being capable of giving a lightning quick start at the top, and with Morris capable of doing some damage in the last couple of overs.

Axar Patel might prove to be a good buy considering that the Feroz Shah Kotla wicket assists spinners come May. Their bowling unit looks the best with the likes of Rabada and Boult capable of doing the job at any point of time in a match, mixing with it the the experienced Amit Mishra and the young sensation Lamichhane.

Overall, this looks a balanced squad which could help Delhi set their poor record straight in IPL.

Rating: 8/10

3. Kolkata Knight Riders

Predicted starting XI: Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik (captain & wk), Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Shubman Gill, Carlos Brathwaite, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Shivam Mavi

KKR had a lot of work to do in the auction and again they made some surprise buys as the likes of Shrikant Mundhe and Nikhil Naik were roped in. KKR look good at the top as Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine would look to continue giving them good starts, with the likes of Gill, Karthik and Russell to follow.

Their pace battery looks good and young with Mavi and Krishna, while Kuldeep leads the way in the spin department. While KKR strengthened their pace and all-round department, they probably missed a batsman which may hurt them in the long run.

Rating: 6.5/10

4. Rajasthan Royals

Predicted starting XI: Jos Buttler, Ajinkya Rahane (captain), Steven Smith, Sanju Samson (wk), Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes, K Gowtham, Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Aaron, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal

RR again bought Jaydev Unadkat, this time for 8.4 crore, while they also roped in Oshane Thomas and Varun Aaron for a total of 3.5 crore as they looked to strengthen their pace attack. Their batting unit looks impressive with the likes of Smith returning to RR and Buttler itching to give good starts at the top.

While their pace roaster looks good, in addition to the spin already in the team, some other gaps were not filled efficiently. With Buttler, Stokes, Smith and Archer available for only a part of the 2019 season, the lack of powerful back-up options could hurt the Royals.

Rating: 7/10

5. Royal Challengers Bangalore

Virat Kohli

Predicted starting XI: Virat Kohli (captain), Parthiv Patel (wk), AB de Villiers, Shimron Hetmyer, Shivam Dube, Colin de Grandhomme, Washington Sundar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal

RCB managed to get Shimron Hetmyer and Shivam Dube at a combined cost of INR 9.2 Crore. This pair, they hope, will be the answer to their middle order woes this season as they look quite settled at the top.

With Coulter-Nile coming back, their bowling attack looks better than last season as the bowlers look to bear the burden of the Chinnaswamy once more. Overall, RCB look a good unit and this year just might be their year.

Rating: 8.5/10

6. Sunrisers Hyderabad

Predicted starting XI: David Warner, W Saha (wk), Kane Williamson (captain), Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed

Their top order looks the same as last season, barring the return of David Warner at the top of the order who along with Jonny Bairstow will leave halfway for World Cup preparations.

Their bowling unit also looks settled and the same as last season barring Khaleel Ahmed, who has had quite year in the blue jersey. Overall, a settled unit with a brilliant balance to their side.

Rating: 9/10

7. Kings XI Punjab

Predicted starting XI: KL Rahul (wk), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Sam Curran, R Ashwin (captain), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Andrew Tye, Ankit Rajpoot

KXIP look good at the top but they really needed to address their middle order where they were short last term. With buys of Mandeep, Sarfaraz, Moises Henriques, they did strengthen their middle order somewhat.

Their bowling department was good last year and will look to repeat that this year. KXIP seem to have a better balance about them this time.

Rating: 7.5/10

8. Mumbai Indians

Predicted Starting XI: Evin Lewis, Rohit Sharma (captain), Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Ben Cutting, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Jason Behrendroff, Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Markande

Mumbai Indians have many options in the opening department with the likes of Rohit, Lewis, De Kock and Kishan. They bat quite deep and have firepower with Cutting and the Pandya brothers. They also have good backups in Anmolpreet Singh and Sran.

Yuvraj Singh and Malinga might find it difficult to make it into the starting XI. Their bowling department looks solid with Bumrah leading the way and last year's surprise Markande adding his spin wizardry.

All in all, MI look a balanced unit and will be gunning for their 4th IPL Title.

Rating: 8.5/10