IPL 2019: Ranking the openers of each team

5. Rajasthan Royals

After struggling to find the perfect combination at the top despite having so many openers, Rajasthan Royals finally found Buttler, who was exceptional once he got the chance to open. This time around, with the World Cup ahead, Buttler might have to leave midway, leaving the Royals in a spot of bother.

Rahane was not in great form last year and his inability to maintain a good strike rate after the powerplays was well exploited by other teams. Going into the next season, there is not enough limited overs cricket under Rahane's belt, which might be a matter of concern.

Sanju Samson, Manan Vohra and Rahul Tripathi are the ones who can be used as openers. Overall the prospect does not look too bleak, but at the same time, it does not look too bright either.

4. Sunrisers Hyderabad

Out of the four openers tried by SRH last season, three have been released (one of them was bought again) and the other one is not a regular starter for the team. The return of David Warner is a huge boost, but unlike previous seasons, he will not have a stable partner in the form of Shikhar Dhawan. Saha and Goswami failed to impress in the opportunities they got last season.

Bairstow and Guptill have been drafted in and there is a high probability that one of them will open with Warner. But that would mean sacrificing one among Williamson, the orange cap holder last season, and Shakib, one of their most experienced bowlers, or both. This will make the already vulnerable middle order weaker.

The SRH think tank will most probably go in with Saha as a partner for Warner, and hope that Saha performs the role of Dhawan to at least some extent.

3. Chennai Superkings

The most successful IPL team, the three-time champions CSK went into the auctions with just two slots left to fill. They were probably the only team which had all their bases covered even before the auctions.

The Watson-Rayudu combo wreaked havoc on oppositions, with both being equally dominating. And whenever the situation arose for Rayudu to bat in the middle, they had the Proteas captain to open the innings.

Faf showed his class with a heroic knock against SRH in the first qualifiers, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Watson and Rayudu were both contenders for the Orange Cap.

The major advantage for CSK is that they will not lose players for the World Cup. In case of injuries, they have backups in Dhruv Shorey, with an experience of just a couple of IPL matches, and Murali Vijay, who is terribly out of form in all formats of the game.

Hence CSK will hope all their openers stay injury free throughout the season, and if that happens, there is no stopping the yellow brigade in 2019 too.