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IPL 2022 will begin next Saturday in Maharashtra with a battle between the Chennai Super Kings and the Kolkata Knight Riders at Wankhede Stadium. Both franchises played in last year's final, in a game in which CSK prevailed over KKR.
In IPL 2021, not many fans expected the Kolkata-based franchise to qualify for the final when the season resumed in the UAE. They started the tournament as the dark horses. The Knight Riders surprised everyone and built a winning streak to make it to the summit clash.
KKR are among the favorites to win IPL 2022, but the following three franchises will start as the dark horses this season.
#1 Debutants in IPL 2022 - Gujarat Titans
Hardik Pandya will captain the new franchise Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022. The Titans impressed everyone when they signed Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill along with Pandya in the pre-season draft.
However, the Ahmedabad-based franchise did not have an equally good auction. They seemingly overspent on a few players and missed out on signing some experienced stars. The team management seemed satisfied with their auction performance, hinting that the Gujarat Titans backroom staff has a special plan for their squad.
They do have game-changers like Rahul Tewatia, Mohammed Shami, Lockie Ferguson, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and other stars in the squad. If all players perform to their full potential, the Gujarat Titans can surprise everyone and win their maiden IPL title in their first season.
#2 Punjab Kings
Punjab Kings have been a part of the IPL since the 2008 season but they have never won the trophy. In almost every tournament, the Mohali-based franchise had a strong squad on paper. They even qualified for the final in 2014. However, the Kings failed to cross the final hurdle.
As the Punjab Kings failed to qualify for the playoffs in the last seven seasons, the team management decided to go for a revamp. They appointed Mayank Agarwal as their new captain and signed some exciting talents like Rahul Chahar, Liam Livingstone, Odean Smith and Benny Howell, along with seasoned pros Shikhar Dhawan and Kagiso Rabada.
They have a squad full of match-winners in IPL 2022, making them one of the dark horses to win the season. Even Punjab Kings' power-hitting coach Julian Wood admitted the same in an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda recently.
#3 Sunrisers Hyderabad
Sunrisers Hyderabad finished eighth last season. They retained only three players from their previous squad and built a fresh team for IPL 2022. Like PBKS, SRH have some rising stars in their squad, namely Aiden Markram, Rahul Tripathi, Marco Jansen, Washington Sundar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Sean Abbott and Nicholas Pooran.
They have a dynamic Indian pace-bowling attack, featuring the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan and Umran Malik. If the on-field execution is better than the previous season, then SRH could win their second title this year.
