IPL 2019: Ranking the all-rounders of the 8 IPL teams

The IPL is getting more and more competitive with each season. All-rounders are the players which receive large sums for their services in the shortest format of cricket. It is an important value-add if a player can chip in with both the bat and ball.

With a few months' time remaining for the start of the season, and with the IPL squads of each team already been finalized after the conclusion of the auction, it will be interesting to analyze the all-rounders of all the 8 IPL teams.

There will be many players featuring in the upcoming edition of the IPL who will be potent both with the ball and bat.

In this article, we will rank the all-rounders of the 8 teams:

---

#8 Kings XI Punjab

Ravichandran Ashwin missed out on many matches last time due to injury

As many as 13 players were bought by the Punjab-based franchise of the IPL which saw a major overhaul in their side ahead of the new season. There was a lot of money splurged in the bid to make the team stronger and more balanced.

Moises Henriques was roped in during the auction for ₹1 crore. The batting All-rounder has been having a decent run of form. He recently made 152 against Queensland and 99 against South Australia. The 31-year-old is currently playing for the Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League.

Ravichandran Ashwin is expected to lead the Punjab-based franchise to the playoffs after a dismal 7th place finish last time around. The veteran Indian Bowling Allrounder is a key component in the team. A regular contributor and wicket-taker with the ball, the 32-year-old is also known to chip in with some runs as he comes in to bat in the lower-middle order.

20-year-old Sam Curran is a brilliant prospect bought by Punjab for a whopping ₹7.20 Crores. The English player is highly impressive with both bat and ball. Earning both his Test and ODI debut for the national team this year, the youngster will be high on confidence and look to come out all guns blazing in the IPL.

Varun Chakravarthy- everyone knows him now as he became the (joint) most expensive player to be sold at the auction. His big break came when he was picked up by Madurai Panthers to play in the 2018 Tamil Nadu Premier League and he went on to pick up 9 wickets with an economy rate of 4.7. The mileage he got in TNPL aided Varun to get a spot in the Tamil Nadu squad for the 2018 Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Although the Tamil Nadu's performance was average and they could not make it past the Group stage, Varun stood out and picked up a massive 22 wickets in 9 matches. He is a player who will remind one of Ajanta Mendis of Sri Lanka.

Expected all-rounders to make the final playing XI:

1. Varun Chakravarthy
2. Sam Curran
3. Ravichandran Ashwin
4. Moises Henriques

Darshan Nalanda, Agnivesh Ayachi, and Harpreet Brar were also bought at the auction for ₹ 30, 20, and 20 lakhs, respectively. It will be interesting to see what these youngsters have to offer to the team.

#7 Royal Challengers Bangalore

Moeen Ali will look to forget last year's dismal outing and start afresh

Marcus Stoinis was traded with Kings XI Punjab ahead of the new season. The Perth-born player is currently playing for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash League and also came up with good performances with the bat against Victoria and NSW in the Sheffield Shield.

Moeen Ali is another extremely talented All-rounder from Birmingham. Although he failed to impress in the IPL last time around, the 31-year-old had a brilliant Test Series against Sri Lanka in November 2018. He picked up 18 wickets in the 3 matches but his batting form is a little worrying as he could not hit a big knock.

Washington Sundar is another brilliant youngster and can come in handy for RCB.

Shivam Dube, the 25-year-old all-rounder will be one of the main men to watch out in RCB as he was bought for a mammoth amount of ₹5 Crore. He is an explosive left handed batsman and an effective right-arm medium bowler.

The youngster hit 5 sixes in an over twice this year, once in the Mumbai T20 League and once in the Ranji Trophy. RCB will have high expectations from Shivam and it will be interesting to see if he can live up to them.

Expected all-rounders to make the final playing XI:

1. Marcus Stoinis
2. Washington Sundar
3. Shivam Dube
4. Moeen Ali
5. Colin de Grandhomme

Colin de Grandhomme, Gurkeerat Singh, Akshdeep Nath, Prayas Barman, Pawan Negi are some of the other all-rounders in the RCB squad and it will be a real battle within the team to make it to the playing XI.

#6 Rajasthan Royals

The Royals paid a hefty sum to retain Ben Stokes

Ben Stokes is one of the most expensive retained players in the IPL. His aggressive display on the field has made him a fan-favorite. The southpaw not only hits big, but he also provides the team with regular breakthroughs as well.

Krishnappa Gowtham was a regular in the Rajasthan Royals starting XI. The 30-year-old contributed well with the ball as he picked up 11 wickets in 15 matches last IPL. He also scored a few runs lower down the order with a strike rate of 196.88. The Right-arm off-break bowler plays for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy and has picked up 13 wickets in the last two matches for them.

Jofra Archer, the Windies speedster, was one of the finest bowlers of the last edition of IPL. The 23-year-old picked up 15 wickets in the 10 matches he played. If he starts contributing more with the bat then he will certainly be one of the men to watch out for in the coming season.

Shreyas Gopal is an effective Right-arm leg-break bowler and a brilliant batsman as well. He has picked up 4 wickets and scored 116 runs (including a knock of 93) in his previous two first-class matches.

Expected all-rounders to make the final playing XI:

1. Ben Stokes
2. Jofra Archer
3. Shreyas Gopal
4. Krishnappa Gowtham

There were many more all-rounders roped in by the Rajasthan-based franchise. Riyan Parag, Ranjane, Livingstone, Ashton Turner, and Shashank Singh are some of the name added to the squad and it will be interesting to see what they have on offer. Stuart Binny is another all-rounder who was retained for ₹50 lakhs.

#5 SunRisers Hyderabad

Yusuf Pathan

Shakib al Hasan, the experienced Bangladeshi batting all-rounder is a great player to have in the team. The 31-year-old also has bags of experience playing in the IPL and recently had a fantastic T20 series against West Indies. He picked up 8 wickets (including a 5-wicket haul) and also scored 103 runs overall in the 3 matches.

Although mainly seen as a lethal right-arm leg break bowler, Rashid Khan is also working on his batting. The 20-year-old Afghani player has one of the most impressive economy rates in the IPL and also picks up wickets regularly. He is currently playing for the Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League and has picked up 5 wickets in the 3 matches they have played so far.

Yusuf Pathan is currently playing for Baroda in the Ranji Trophy. He recently hit a fantastic century against Chhattisgarh. His right-arm off-break bowling also proves to be effective in tricky situations.

Vijay Shankar was traded with Delhi Daredevils (now Capitals) ahead of the 2019 season. He is currently playing for Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy and is in great batting form having scored 5 half-centuries in his previous 7 innings.

Expected all-rounders to make the final playing XI:

1. Yusuf Pathan
2. Shakib Al Hasan
3. Vijay Shankar
4. Rashid Khan

Mohammad Nabi and Abhishek Sharma are the other all-rounders in the Sunrisers squad.

#4 Delhi Capitals

Chris Morris is the main all-rounder face for DC

Delhi Capitals as the Delhi-based franchise of IPL is now known, bought 10 new players in the auction. The new players include all-rounders like Hanuma Vihari, Axar Patel, Sherfane Rutherford, Colin Ingram, and Keemo Paul. Delhi Capitals retained Chris Morris, Colin Munro, Manjot Kalra, and Harshal Patel.

Chris Morris who is a part of Delhi from the 2016 edition is the main all-rounder for the team and also one of the lead bowlers. Morris didn't stand up to the expectations last season but will hope to return with a bang this season.

Keemo Paul, the 20-years-old West Indies all-rounder, is among one of the best picks for Delhi in the auction. After being auctioned to Delhi, Keemo Paul took five-wickets against Bangladesh in the 3rd T20 match of the bilateral series which is a good sign for the team. Both Chris Morris and Keemo Paul are expected to make it to the final playing XI.

Expected all-rounders to make the final playing XI:

1. Chris Morris
2. Keemo Paul
3. Hanuma Vihari
4. Axar Patel

Delhi has plenty of options for all-rounders in face of Manjot Kalra (a member from India's U19 World Cup team), Colin Munro, Shefrane Rutherford, Harshal Patel and the biggest buy for Delhi, Colin Ingram, who was roped in for ₹6.4 crores.

#3 Mumbai Indians

Yuvraj Singh was the most interesting pick by Mumbai Indians

With 18 players retained, Mumbai Indians had little to do at the auctions but the biggest surprise was Yuvraj Singh being bought by the franchise. Yuvraj was their third costliest pick in the auction as he was roped in for ₹ 1 crore. Pankaj Jaiswal, who is performing well in the recent first-class matches, was another all-rounder bagged by MI.

Mumbai has the Pandya brothers in their side who they retained for hefty sums. The good thing for the franchise is that after Hardik, Krunal Pandya was also called to play for the Indian team.

Kieron Pollard, the old and regular face for Mumbai, is yet another strength for the Indians. He is not only good at hitting sixes and bowling few overs but is very handy in the field, especially at the boundary line because of his large build. Ben Cutting was also retained by the Mumbai Indians and can be a part of playing XI to strengthen the batting lineup.

Expected all-rounders to make the final playing XI:

1. Hardik Pandya
2. Krunal Pandya
3. Kieron Pollard
4. Ben Cutting

Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya will play the biggest role for Mumbai and if Yuvraj helps with his experience, it will be great for the team.

#2 Kolkata Knight Riders

Andre Russell is expected to perform the same as of last season

Kolkata Knight Riders bagged 8 new players in the auction and the biggest buy was Carlos Brathwaite, who was grabbed for ₹ 5 crores. KKR already had two great West Indies all-rounders (Sunil Narine and Andre Russell) in their squad and now with Brathwaite, the team has become even stronger.

The Windies trio is going to be the biggest strength for the Kolkata Knight Riders and all three are expected to make the final playing XI. Sunil Narine and Andre Russell have experience of more than 250 T20 matches while Brathwaite is little less experienced as compared to the two with 134 T20 matches.

Other than the trio, Kolkata Knight Riders also have Nitish Rana and the fresh pick from the auction, Shrikant Mundhe. Nitish Rana performed decently in the last season with little over 300 runs and 4 wickets but will be expected to bring out his best in the coming season.

Expected all-rounders to make the final playing XI:

1. Sunil Narine
2. Andre Russell
3. Nitish Rana
4. Carlos Brathwaite

Sunil Narine (in the beginning) and Andre Russell (in the end) are expected to contribute the most with Nitish giving balance in the middle.

#1 Chennai Super Kings

Shane Watson hit a cracking century in the final of IPL 2018

Chennai retained 23 players and thus had very little role in the auctions and bought just 2 players, none of whom were all-rounders. However, still, their all-rounders look the strongest on paper.

Among all-rounders, Chennai has big names like the retired Australian all-rounder Shane Watson, who played a major role in the victory of CSK in the final last season as he hit a century. In total, Watson scored two centuries in IPL 2018 and was second highest scorer for the winners with 555 runs.

Dwayne Bravo, who retired from international cricket recently, is another big name in CSK's all-rounder list. The West Indian is very handy with his slower balls in the death overs and his power hitting comes in handy to finish the batting innings in style.

Ravindra Jadeja and Kedar Jhadav are the Indian biggies in the CSK squad. C Bishnoi, David Willey, and Mitchell Santner are the other all-rounders strengthening the Chennai squad.

Expected all-rounders to make the final playing XI:

1. Shane Watson
2. Dwayne Bravo
3. Ravindra Jadeja
4. Kedar Jhadav

The Tamil Nadu-based franchise has good back-ups for the all-rounders also and that too reliable ones. It is one of the most experienced teams in the IPL with exceptional all-rounders.