IPL 2020: 4 teams with solid bench-strength

Indian Premier League is quite a long tournament as compared to its rival leagues, going on for around 6-8 weeks. It is often observed that some IPL teams lose momentum halfway into the tournament due to injuries or some players undergoing a bad patch. The unfortunate is unpredictable, on account of which, the franchises aim to build the replacements for their mainstream players beforehand to prevent their team from suffering during the tournament. Let's have a look at the 4 teams having the strongest bench-strength ahead of the 2018 edition.

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#4 Mumbai Indians

MI's biggest pick this season was Chris Lynn in terms of value for money

First Choice Playing XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), Chris Lynn, Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah

Batting: Mumbai Indians' top order looks healthy after the addition of Chris Lynn in the squad. They have decent backups in Ishan Kishan, Saurabh Tiwary, and Aditya Tare. With the flexibility that Suryakumar Yadav brings to the table, MI has 4 choices to bat at the top of the order.

Bowling: The bowling department for MI is perhaps the most dynamic part of their set-up. In case of any injuries, they have big names like Trent Boult, Nathan Coulter-Nile, and Mitchell McCleneghan who can join the party anytime. Their spin attack has a backup in Jayant Yadav and left-arm spinner Anukul Roy.

All-rounder: This department is the most crucial one when it comes to T20s. The well-settled trio of Kieron Pollard and the Pandya brothers have Sherfane Rutherford and the youngster Prince Balwant Rai Singh as substitutes. Though there are no like for like replacements in this area for MI, certain adjustments in their combinations might do the job for them if the unfortunate happens.

KKR bought Pat Cummins for a record-breaking INR 15.5 crores

First Choice Playing XI: Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Andre Russell, Rahul Tripathi, Pat Cummins, Kuldeep Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna

Batting: Kolkata Knight Riders have plenty of options to play with in Indian as well as overseas categories. If the unfortunate circumstances occur, they have English wicket-keeper batsman Tom Banton, Siddhesh Lad, Rinku Singh, and Nikhil Naik as back-ups.

Bowling: Kolkata Knight Riders were able to settle their misfiring bowling line-up by the addition of the most expensive overseas sell ever - Pat Cummins. The fast bowling reserves in Lockie Ferguson, Harry Gurney, Sandeep Warrier, and Kamlesh Nagarkoti can serve the team when needed.

All-rounder: Their power-packed set of all-rounders in Andre Russell & Sunil Narine has the support of the Australian spin-bowling all-rounder Chris Green and Varun Chakravarthy. There is always an injury concern for KKR in this department and they have tried to fix that by the new additions.

CSK looks like the most balanced squad ahead of IPL 2020

First Choice Playing XI: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Harbhajan Singh, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir

Batting: The men in yellow are known for the performance of their entire squad throughout an IPL season. Perhaps they are the only team who always have suitable replacements to play in every playing condition. Their starting batsmen have the backing of Murali Vijay, Kedar Jadhav, Rituraj Gaikwad, & N Jagadeesan.

Bowling: The bowling department looks pretty much settled. Skipper MS Dhoni is blessed with plenty of options as per the conditions in both, spin and fast bowling departments. Their cushion includes the fast bowlers like Lungi Ngidi, Josh Hazlewood, Shardul Thakur, and KM Asif. The spinners are backed by veteran Imran Tahir, Mitchell Santner, Karn Sharma, and the recently added R Sai Kishore.

All-rounder: CSK has always banked upon their all-rounders and Dhoni enjoys having plenty of bowling options in the tank. In the IPL 2020 auctions, they have managed to add Sam Curran to their squad. They already had Kedar Jadhav and Mitchell Santner who can fulfill the all-rounders role in the XI if required.

Kings XI Punjab aimed at bringing lost balance to their set-up

First Choice Playing XI: KL Rahul (c), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Karun Nair, Krishnappa Gowtham, Chris Jordan, Darshan Nalkande, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami

Batting: Kings XI Punjab is probably the only team to have ruthless batsmen starting from the top to number 7 or 8. With Chris Gayle being prone to injury, KXIP has adequate back-ups in James Neesham, Mandeep Singh, Deepak Hooda, and Sarfaraz Khan who can be slotted in the middle-order while having flexible opening options in Mayank Agarwal and Mandeep Singh.

Bowling: They had a massive up-gradation in this department after struggling in the past. To their first-choice bowlers, they have the aid of Sheldon Cottrell, Hardus Viljoen, Arshdeep Singh, and Ishan Porel. Their spinners are supported by Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Jagdeesha Suchith.

All-rounder: In this department, the Punjab-based franchise has managed to gain the services of James Neesham, who might start the season as a backup. Apart from him, they have Deepak Hooda and Harpreet Brar.