IPL 2020 Auction: Strongest possible XI of all eight teams

The IPL 2020 auction was a pretty eventful affair as the teams put their best foot forward and looked to plug the gaps in their squad ahead of the upcoming season.

While teams like the Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad were relatively quiet and made only a few purchases, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals who had quite a few slots to fill. The teams seem to have done reasonably well in forming strong squads with the limited options that were available on the day.

With a little over 60 players picked across the eight franchises, there is going to be a lot of analysis about the way the eight teams could lineup. Here is the list of the strongest possible XIs of all the eight teams in an approach to understand how these teams might line-up in IPL 2020.

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#8 Rajasthan Royals

Will it be third-time lucky for Royals and Unadkat?

Squad

Batsman: Jos Buttler (wk), Steve Smith, Sanju Samson (wk), Manan Vohra, Robin Uthappa, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat (wk), David Miller.

All-rounders: Ben Stokes, Mahipal Lomror, Shashank Singh, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia.

Spinners: Shreyas Gopal, Mayank Markande, Anirudha Joshi.

Fast bowlers: Jofra Archer, Ankit Rajpoot, Varun Aaron, Jaydev Unadkat, Akash Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Oshane Thomas, Tom Curran, Andrew Tye.

Robin Uthappa was perhaps the most significant buy for Rajasthan Royals. Uthappa's years of experience playing on the Indian pitches will be crucial to the Royals' chances in the absence of former skipper Ajinkya Rahane, who was traded to Delhi Capitals.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, who created quite a stir with his pyrotechnics at the top order, might have to wait a little for his IPL debut. David Miller was one of their best bargain buys at a price of just ₹75 lakh.

The Royals did manage to get in T20 specialist pacers Andrew Tye and Tom Curran in the final stages of the auction. Still, it will be interesting to see how they slot in either of them in the playing XI owing to an already strong overseas contingent.

Strongest XI: Jos Buttler (wk), Robin Uthappa, Sanju Samson, Steve Smith (c), Ben Stokes, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Mayank Markande, Jaydev Unadkat, Ankit Rajpoot.

#7 Kings XI Punjab

Back in the fold, Glenn Maxwell

Squad

Batsmen: KL Rahul (wk), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Mandeep Singh, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Nicholas Pooran (wk), Sarfaraz Khan

All-rounders: Glenn Maxwell, Deepak Hooda, James Neesham, K. Gowtham, Darshan Nalkande.

Spinners: Murugan Ashwin, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman, J. Suchith, Harpreet Brar, Ravi Bishnoi, Tajinder Dhillon

Fast bowlers: Mohammed Shami, Hardus Viljoen, Arshdeep Singh, Sheldon Cottrell, Ishan Porel, Chris Jordan

Kings XI Punjab have managed to assemble arguably the most destructive batting line-up among all the teams. KL Rahul, who will captain the side in the upcoming season, could open the innings alongside Chris Gayle.

The in-form Mayank Agarwal and Nicholas Pooran will form a potent middle-order along with Glenn Maxwell. Maxwell was one of the biggest buys of this year's auction at ₹10.75 Crore, and he will be keen to turn out for Punjab yet again.

KXIP's pace department has also got a new look with the inclusion of Ishan Porel and Sheldon Cottrell. However, the lack of quality spinning options might hurt the side later on in the tournament.

Strongest XI: KL Rahul (c), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Glenn Maxwell, Deepak Hooda, K Gowtham, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Ishan Porel, Sheldon Cottrell.

#6 Sunrisers Hyderabad

Nothing much has changed for SRH

Squad

Batsmen: David Warner, Kane Williamson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Manish Pandey, Sreevats Goswami (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Virat Singh, Priyam Garg, Sanjay Yadav

All-rounders: Mohammad Nabi, Abhishek Sharma, Mitchell Marsh, Sandeep Bavanaka, Abdul Samad, Vijay Shankar, Fabian Allen

Spinners: Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem

Fast bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Basil Thampi, T. Natarajan, Billy Stanlake

Sunrisers Hyderabad did not have much to do at the auction. They did not release too many players before the auctions and thus did not have too many gaps to fill in. Although, their fragile middle-order was a bit of a worry for the team management.

They tried to address that issue by including Virat Singh and Pritam Garg. The team will be expecting big things from Virat Singh in particular. Virat has been a consistent performer for Jharkhand over the years and can score quick runs in the latter half of the innings.

The Sunrisers will want more from the likes of Manish Pandey and Vijay Shankar this time around, both of whom have been in good form recently.

Strongest XI: David Warner, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Manish Pandey, Virat Singh, Abhishek Sharma, Vijay Shankar, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddharth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed

#5 Delhi Capitals

Roy played for Delhi in 2018

Squad

Batsmen: Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer, Jason Roy, Rishabh Pant (wk), Alex Carey (wk), Shimron Hetmyer

All-rounders: Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Chris Woakes, Marcus Stoinis, Keemo Paul, Lalit Yadav

Spinners: R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Sandeep Lamichhane

Fast Bowlers: Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma, Avesh Khan, Mohit Sharma, Tushar Deshpande

One team that seems to have all bases covered is the Delhi Capitals. The Capitals had already made the most of the trade window by roping in the experienced duo of Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin, and they consolidated further by making some smart choices at the auction.

They went in aggressively for the signature of West Indies power-hitter Shimron Hetmyer to strengthen the middle-order that already features Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant. In Jason Roy, Alex Carey and Chris Woakes, Delhi Capitals got three players who can easily walk into the playing XI with their variety of skills.

With many options at their disposal and a balanced squad, Delhi Capitals will go in the tournament as one of the favourites to win the title. While Ajinkya Rahane does offer a lot in terms of experience, it remains to see how he fits in the playing XI.

Strongest XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Chris Woakes, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma.

#4 Kolkata Knight Riders

Cummins will be back in KKR colours

Squad

Batsmen: Shubman Gill, Siddesh Lad, Rahul Tripathi, Tom Banton (wk), Nikhil Naik, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rinku Singh, Eoin Morgan.

All-rounders: Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Chris Green, Sunil Narine

Spinners: Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, M Siddharth, Pravin Tambe

Fast bowlers: Harry Gurney, Lockie Ferguson, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Pat Cummins

Kolkata Knight Riders made the biggest bid of the day as they signed the services of Australian quick Pat Cummins for a whopping sum of ₹15.5 Crore. Kolkata Knight Riders were on a hunt for an impact pacer and did a good job in sealing the deal for Cummins, who can offer a little bit of batting lower down the order as well.

Eoin Morgan's signing was also a notable addition to the KKR roster, with the Englishman certain to add some solidity to their middle order. Apart from these stalwarts, KKR also made a couple of bargain buys in Chris Green and Tom Banton, with both these players making a name for themselves in their short T20 careers.

KKR also drafted in Varun Chakravarthy for a stellar amount of ₹4 crore, and the 48-year-old Pravin Tambe at his base price of ₹20 lakh.

Strongest XI: Sunil Narine, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik (C and WK), Rahul Tripathi, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna.

#3 Royal Challengers Bangalore

Can fresh signings change RCB's fate?

Squad

Batsman: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Devdutt Padikkal, Parthiv Patel (wk), Aaron Finch, Joshua Philippe (wk), Shahbaz Ahmad (wk), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Pavan Deshpande

All-rounders: Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Isuru Udana.

Spinners: Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Pawan Negi.

Fast bowlers: Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Siraj, Kane Richardson, Dale Steyn.

Royal Challengers Bangalore were one of the few teams who made the most buys from the auction and look well-rounded ahead of the upcoming season.

Unlike last year, the RCB management opted to bank on experience this time around. By signing quality players in Aaron Finch, Chris Morris, and Dale Steyn, RCB have ensured that lack of experience will not be an issue in IPL 2020.

Aaron Finch, who did not participate in IPL 2019 due to national commitments, will add teeth to RCB's top-order, and his inclusion could see Virat Kohli coming in at No.3. RCB have also invested heavily in Chris Morris, who has done decently in the IPL and will be expected to contribute both with the bat and ball. With a strong squad, RCB fans can expect a better performance from their side.

Strongest XI: Aaron Finch, Parthiv Patel (wk), Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Chris Morris, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal.

#2 Chennai Super Kings

CSK will be relying on the tried and tested

Squad

Batsmen: Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, N Jagadeesan (wk), M Vijay, Ruturaj Gaikwad, MS Dhoni (c & wk)

All-rounders: Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, Mitchell Santner, Monu Singh, Sam Curran

Spinners: Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Ravi Sai Kishore

Fast bowlers: Lungi Ngidi, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, KM Asif, Josh Hazlewood

Chennai Super Kings made only four purchases in Sam Curran, Piyush Chawla, Josh Hazlewood, R Sai Kishore at the auction since they yet again stuck to their tried and tested core of players and released only a handful of players. Although, these purchases could prove to be of huge significance for the Super Kings.

Piyush Chawla can be a replacement for Imran Tahir, who occupies an overseas player's spot in the side. Sam Curran's all-round abilities might come in handy for the Super Kings. Also, Josh Hazlewood can prove to be a smart buy as he is known for his immaculate line and length.

The Super Kings are well aware of the fact that the conditions in Chennai are more conducive for spinners, and thus they have packed their side with spinners.

Strongest XI: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c and wk), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Deepak Chahar.

#1 Mumbai Indians

Lynn's happy that he won't have to face Bumrah in IPL 2020

Squad

Batsmen: Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Quinton de Kock (wk), Aditya Tare (wk), Anmolpreet Singh, Chris Lynn, Ishan Kishan, Sherfane Rutherford, Saurabh Tiwary

All-rounders: Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Prince Balwant Rai

Spinners: Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Anukul Roy

Fast bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga, Trent Boult, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Mohsin Khan, Digvijay Deshmukh

The defending champions had the task of improving their bench-strength at the auction, which they seem to have done quite well. In Chris Lynn, they have bought a dynamic opening batsman.

Lynn has decimated bowling attacks in the IPL in the past and will form a deadly opening combination with Quinton de Kock, which also means that skipper Rohit Sharma might have to shift to No.3.

Another big buy for the Mumbai Indians was Nathan Coulter-Nile. The Australian quick might be out of contention for a place in the national side but has much to offer in the IPL. And even though Mumbai Indians might begin the tournament with Lasith Malinga as their overseas pacer, they might bring in Trent Boult and Nathan Coulter-Nile at some stage of the competition.

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