In this file photo, CSK skipper MS Dhoni gestures during the IPL tie against Delhi Capitals in Chennai.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Bengaluru: Mumbai Indians have changed their captain to turn their fortunes. Having missed the last season due to injuries various magnitude, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas have returned to lead Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively to better prospects. KL Rahul has recovered just in time to helm the Lucknow Super Giants again while the irrepressible MS Dhoni will look to guide Chennai Super Kings to a sixth title in what could be his last season as a player in the IPL. But do they have the team to accomplish their goals? DH takes a look at each team's strengths and weaknesses in Part 1.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS
STRENGTHS
One needn’t look beyond MS Dhoni when the topic of CSK’s collective brilliance comes up because the skipper has always known how to bring out the best in his men. A cursory glance at the squad will reveal that they aren’t particularly stacked, but they have players who are cognizant of success as a whole rather than as individuals. They might be lacking serious pace options, but they more than makeup for it with a whole host of all-rounders such as Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali and others.
WEAKNESSES
Without the likes of Devon Conway and Mustafizur Rahman in the mix for the foreseeable future, Dhoni will need to rely on the team’s latest acquisitions to hit the right note. Given their proclivity for success as a unit, they will be hard-pressed to integrate the new faces such a Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra into the system as quickly as possible, and that might cause some grating early on. Besides, Dhoni himself is not at his best so that could well turn into a problem once the season enters the business end of things.
SQUAD
MS Dhoni (capt), Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Simarjeet Singh, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Rachin Ravindra, Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Mustafizur Rahman, Avanish Rao Aravelly.
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DELHI CAPITALS
STRENGTHS
We don’t know as yet the full extent to which Rishabh Pant has recovered, but signs are positive, and that means the Capitals will have added another layer of aggression to their already aggressive batting unit. They’re stacked to the rim with quality batters, and they also have some of the most potent spinners this side of the world with them in Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav. Also, they are very prudent in picking complementary domestic players during the auction to fill out potential voids which might open during the tournament.
WEAKNESSES
Harry Brook’s pull-out, means Delhi are marginally short-staffed on the batting front. The same can be said about their pace unit because Anrich Nortje’s fitness is suspended in ambiguity. The biggest issue for the Capitals is, however, that they don’t have too many quality finishers in the side. Yes, Pant and Axar are available, but the latter can’t be faulted for not doing the role as he would have a couple of years ago, and the latter is more of an aid come crunch time. Not an ideal scenario to be in, but Delhi have had it worse in the past.
SQUAD
Rishabh Pant (capt), Tristan Stubbs, Abishek Porel, Kumar Kushagra, Ricky Bhui, Shai Hope, Prithvi Shaw, Harry Brook, Yash Dhull, Swastik Chikara, David Warner, Pravin Dubey, Axar Patel, Mitchell Marsh, Lalit Yadav, Vicky Ostwal, Sumit Kumar, Anrich Nortje, Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Jhye Richardson, Rasikh Salem.
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KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS
STRENGTH
With explosive batters like Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell and Venkatesh Iyer, the Knight Riders can certainly cause extensive damage on their day. Opener Rana is the guy who sets the tempo at the start along with Iyer while Rinku and Russell will be donning the finisher’s roles considering they are tailor-made for that. Throw in the retuning Shreyas Iyer, a fantastic player of spin, and the seasoned Manish Pandey, there’s no doubt KKR will be banking on the batters largely. And, let’s not forget spinners Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who can stifle any batting attack. KKR look sorted.
WEAKNESSES
When KKR went all out to acquire the services of Mitchell Starc, splurging an astronomical Rs 24.75 crore, we knew why. Barring Starc, there isn’t any other pacer who can instill fear in the opposition and if the Aussie left-armer has a bad day in the office, it could spell trouble for the Knight Riders. A lot will depend on how young India pacers Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora — if they play — deliver. Else, players like Dushmantha Chameera and Russell may have to share the workload.
SQUAD: Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Sherfane Rutherford, Phil Salt (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Manish Pandey, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Ramandeep Singh, Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, Suyash Sharma, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Dushmantha Chameera, Sakib Hussain, Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Mitchell Starc, Chetan Sakariya.
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LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS
STRENGTHS
Few teams have as many top order options as LSG have with Quinton de Kock, Kyle Mayers, Devdutt Padikkal, KL Rahul among others in their ranks. The middle-order is no less solid with the likes of Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda and Rahul if the skipper wants to bat down the order. Their riches in the all-rounders' category are equally impressive, boasting of Marcus Stoinis, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya and U-19 WC star Arshin Kulkarni.
WEAKNESSES
The pace bowling wears a thin cloak of experience which is always a negative in a high-pressure tournament like the IPL. Remember what happened to GT pacer Yash Dayal who had to defend 30 runs in the final over but conceded five sixes in a row last season? Naveen-ul-Haq, Yash Thakur, Mohsin Khan, Shivam Mavi are all talented but past performances show they need to do much better. West Indies pace sensation Shamar Joseph is an exciting addition to the mix but IPL is a different beast.
SQUAD: KL Rahul (capt, wk), Quinton de Kock (wk), Kyle Mayers, Devdutt Padikkal, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Ayush Badoni, Deepak Hooda, Ashton Turner, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Marcus Stoinis, Prerak Mankad, Arshin Kulkarni, David Willey, Mohsin Khan, Shamar Joseph, Yash Thakur, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mayank Yadav, Yudhvir Singh, Shivam Mavi, Arshad Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Amit Mishra, M Siddharth.
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MUMBAI INDIANS
STRENGTHS
The fact that they have won five titles is naturally going to give Mumbai the edge over the others because pedigree often trumps promise. The shake-up at the top with Hardik Pandya taking over from Rohit Sharma as the skipper is mostly going to benefit the team because they will get to view the competition through the lens of someone young and vibrant. That Rohit is going to play as a pure batter, without the stress of being a skipper, might also see a change in the opener’s attitude with the bat in hand.
WEAKNESSES
Mumbai have quite possibly one of the most balanced squads in this tournament, but they should have paid a bit more attention to their spin resources though they have a few decent names such as Shreyas Gopal and Piyush Chawla. Moreover, they will have to manage Jasprit Bumrah’s load through the tournament to ensure that he doesn’t aggravate one of the many injuries he’s looking to return from. That does leave them a bit vulnerable in the long run.
SQUAD
Hardik Pandya (capt), Rohit Sharma, Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, N Tilak Varma, Tim David, Vishnu Vinod, Arjun Tendulkar, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Jasprit Bumrah, Kumar Kartikeya, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Luke Wood, Romario Shepherd, Gerald Coetzee, Shreyas Gopal, Nuwan Thushara, Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Mohammad Nabi, Shivalik Sharma, Luke Wood, Dilshan Madushanka.