The Indian Premier League is back for its 16th season, with ten teams set to battle it out for the richest prize in cricket. The 2023 edition will return to the traditional home and away format in an exciting development.
This season of the IPL also sees the introduction of the Impact Player rule. Teams can name a bench of four players in addition to their playing XI, with one of those allowed to join in on proceedings. If a team has a full quota of overseas players in their starting XI, the impact player must be Indian.
The league is also trying out other variations to playing conditions.
We will see five penalty runs awarded to the batting side if a fielder or wicketkeeper is deemed to make an unfair movement during a delivery; the ball will also be declared dead and will need to be rebowled.
Captains are only required to name their teams after the toss and can therefore alter their team composition to suit the situation.
Teams who fail to bowl their overs in time will be subject to additional fielding restrictions on all deliveries sent down in overtime. Only four fielders will be allowed outside the circle under these conditions.
Captains will now be able to review wides and no-balls with DRS.
The IPL auction took place on 23 December 2022, and we saw allrounders fetch a pretty penny. English Jack of all trades Sam Curran was the most expensive player bagged with Punjab Kings winning the bidding war.
The 2023 IPL will be contested by ten teams across a total of 74 matches and will take just three days short of two months to complete. The tournament gets underway on Friday 31 March 2023, and the final is scheduled to take place on Sunday 28 May 2023.
With the basics laid down, we can now look at each of the teams and their chances.
Chennai Super Kings 8/1
Serial winners Chennai Super Kings have MS Dhoni at the helm as captain while Stephen Fleming is the coach.
Among their overseas players, we are likely to see CSK lean heaviest on Devon Conway and Ben Stokes.
There are three foreign spinners in the squad, including all-rounder Moeen Ali. You would expect to see Sri Lankan mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana to be favoured ahead of Mitchell Santner, although the Black Caps stalwart is an underrated strangler.
With Ravindra Jadeja also in the squad, the chances of another left-armer getting the nod look slim.
Ruturaj Gaikwad has formed what looks to be a solid opening partnership with Conway.
South Africans Dwaine Pretorius and Sisanda Magala round out the overseas professionals on the CSK books. Pretorius recently retired from international cricket to devote his time to the franchise T20 scene. Magala was a late replacement, having impressed for the Proteas in recent outings and enjoying the fruits of the Joburg Super Kings’ connection to their Chennai counterparts.
This squad is all about blending youth and experience with IPL stalwarts like Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Ajinkya Rahane and Deepak Chahar.
Chahar’s return boosts the bowling with limited pace stocks at CSK, especially regarding homegrown talents.
Full Squad:
MS Dhoni (Captain), Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Chowdhary, Bhagath Verma, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Deepak Chahar, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sidhu, Ajay Mandal, Sisanda Magala.
Verdict:
The Super Kings have plenty of pedigree in this competition and should make the play-offs at the very least.
Delhi Capitals 7/1
David Warner is one of three overseas captains in the 2023 IPL, and he will work closely with fellow Aussie Ricky Ponting, who has been their coach for some time.
DC will be desperate to see Prithvi Shaw recover his form. Still, they have other options to front the batting alongside Warner in Manish Pandey and South Africa international Rilee Rossouw.
Englishman Phil Salt is an underrated T20 batting asset, but he might struggle for game time with Rossouw, Rovman Powell and Mitchell Marsh vying for a top-order overseas player slot.
Their pace options are built around overseas players, with the South African duo of Lungi Ngidi, and Anrich Nortje joined by Bangladesh star Mustafizur Rahman. Nortje is a considerable strike weapon for any team, and the Capitals will likely want him sending down as many overs as possible.
Experienced campaigner Ishant Sharma will also play a role in leading the Capitals’ attack.
Indian batter Yash Dhull is still the young player to watch in this group at just 20 years old and having enjoyed a decent first season in the IPL. Joining Dhull on that players-to-watch list is fellow Under-19 World Cup winner Vicky Ostwal. Ostwal must distinguish himself from all the other left-arm spinners in the group.
Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav bring their international experience to the table in the spin war within the DC squad.
Full Squad:
David Warner (C), Prithvi Shaw, Yash Dhull, Sarfaraz Khan, Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell, Rilee Rossouw, Lalit Yadav, Mitchell Marsh, Ripal Patel, Axar Patel, Phil Salt, Khaleel Ahmed, Aman Hakim Khan, Praveen Dubey, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar, Mustafizur Rahman, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Vicky Ostwal, Chetan Sakariya, Ishant Sharma, Rishabh Pant.
Prediction:
Their bowlers might get them to the playoffs but DC don’t have title-winning credentials.
Gujarat Titans 11/2
Skipper Hardik Pandya and coach Ashish Nehra will be out to lead this unit to another title after a dream debut.
David Miller played a key role in their title-winning campaign and the Proteas star appears to be in good touch after a short spell in the Pakistan Super League.
Matthew Wade and Kane Williamson are the other overseas players vying for top-order spots.
Meanwhile, Shubman Gill also comes into the IPL in fantastic fettle, having established himself as an India regular.
Alzarri Joseph’s injury in South Africa might affect his IPL campaign and the Titans’ plans for fast bowling. Joseph showed his value in the recent three-format series in South Africa with his height making him a tricky prospect for batters.
Irish quick Josh Little might get a little more action than expected in the early days of the tournament at the very least, although it might be compatriot Odean Smith who benefits most.
Rashid Khan has made a name for himself as an IPL superstar with so many brilliant displays down the years, and whenever fit, he will be one of the first names on the team sheet.
Full Squad:
Hardik Pandya (c), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudharsan, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav, R Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad, Kane Williamson, Odean Smith, KS Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Urvil Patel, Josh Little, Mohit Sharma.
Prediction:
Gujarat Titans look good to make a fist of their title defence, and they could go all the way.
Kolkata Knight Riders 11/1
The Knight Riders have been plagued by inconsistency in recent seasons, but you cannot discount the threat they pose match to match.
With Andre Russell in their ranks, KKR can beat anyone on their day, but they need to find a way to be ‘on’ more often if they are to win their third IPL title.
KKR have persisted with Sunil Narine as an opening batter with mixed results and it might be time for them to turn to Bangladesh star Litton Das to take up the mantle alongside Venkatesh Iyer.
Their skipper Shreyas Iyer is more comfortable in the middle order, as is superstar Russell. However, Iyer has suffered an injury and might miss the first half of the tournament.
It will be interesting to see if KKR will be willing to field both of their Kiwi quicks at once or if the experience of Tim Southee will get the nod ahead of the raw pace of Lockie Ferguson.
Namibia hero David Wiese will also be in the discussion for a place as an all-rounder, but he faces competition from the likes of Shakib Al Hasan and Narine for an overseas player slot.
Southee and Shakib are strong candidates to lead the side as stand-in skipper at the outset of the tournament.
Full squad:
Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, N Jadadeesan, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, David Wiese, Kulwant Khejroliya, Litton Das, Mandeep Singh, Shakib Al Hasan.
Verdict:
The Knight Riders’ inability to string together victories means that they will battle to reach the play-offs.
Lucknow Super Giants 15/2
If any group outside of South Africa would have had reason to celebrate the Proteas record run chase in their T20I against the West Indies at SuperSport Park on Sunday, 26 March, it would be the Lucknow Super Giants.
LSG have the star of that match, Quinton de Kock, on their books as well as West Indies bruiser Kyle Mayers who has to be one of the most sought after all-around talents in T20 cricket.
Skipper KL Rahul will hope that De Kock can help him escape the pressure of being an India regular and IPL leader and allow him to regain his best batting form.
De Kock might not have to bother with the gloves with Nicholas Pooran also in the group, although he could also command a place purely as a finisher.
Marcus Stoinis may not bowl express pace, but he does enough with the ball to be a potential T20 banana skin and his finishing under pressure while at the crease makes him your man for a crisis.
LSG are stacked with all-rounders with K Gowtham, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Stoinis, Daniel Sams and Mayers all on their roster.
Sadly their 2022 breakout star Mohsin Khan will miss much, if not all, of the 2023 campaign. The left-arm quick underwent surgery to remove blood clots from his bowling arm late last year.
Full squad:
KL Rahul (c), Ayush Badoni, Karan Sharma, Manan Vohra, Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Krishnappa Gowtham, Deepak Hooda, Kyle Mayers, Krunal Pandya, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Mark Wood, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Nicholas Pooran, Jaydev Unadkat, Yash Thakur, Romario Shepherd, Daniel Sams, Amit Mishra, Prerak Mankad, Swapnil Singh, Naveen-ul-Haq, Yudhvir Charak.
Verdict:
Their x-factor players will keep them in the playoff race, but they could narrowly miss out.
Mumbai Indians 7/1
Expectations are always high for the Mumbai Indians, who are the record five-time winners of the IPL and are known for having BMT in spades.
Skipper Rohit Sharma has backed out of sorts Suryakumar Yadav, arguably India’s T20 player of 2022, to come good after a humiliating string of ducks in the international series against Australia.
There is also bad news for them on the injury front as they face the prospect of a season without a true blue IPL megastar in Jasprit Bumrah, who has been ruled out with injury.
Fortunately, Mumbai Indians went all-in on foreign quicks and have a very strong India-based top order.
Australians Jason Behrendorff, Cameron Green and Jhye Richardson could prove to be the key men.
We might even see a scenario where two foreign allrounders are played together, with the likes of Jofra Archer joining Green there.
Green might even get the green light to open the batting alongside Rohit, although it will be tempting to get Ishan Kishan at the crease as soon as possible.
The secret weapon for the Mumbai Indians might well be one of their young South African players.
The trio might be used selectively, but Tristan Stubbs and Dewald Brevis have already shown they can hang at this level and even dazzle when given the opportunity. It’s Duan Jansen, the twin brother of Marco, who might prove to be the bargain buy of the IPL. As you would expect, he plays a similar game to his brother, and while he is rated higher as a bowler, he has ambitions of being an international all-rounder.
A lack of top spinners might hurt Mumbai, but they have won the title without a marquee tweaker and have also brought in veteran Piyush Chawla, although he didn’t play in the 2022 campaign for former franchise CSK.
Full Squad
Rohit Sharma (c), Tim David, Ramandeep Singh, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Jofra Archer, Jasprit Bumrah, Arjun Tendulkar, Arshad Khan, Kumar Kartikeya, Hrithik Shokeen, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal, Cameron Green, Jhye Richardson, Piyush Chawla, Duan Jansen, Vishnu Vinod, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Raghav Goyal, Mohit Rathee.
Verdict:
You simply can’t write this side off. The Mumbai Indians are perennial title contenders and should be expected to be there or thereabouts again in 2023.
Punjab Kings 10/1
The Punjab Kings are one of the three teams yet to experience lifting the IPL trophy, coming closest in 2014 when they lost in the final.
The Kings have been accused of overspending on big-name international players who don’t deliver, with fans pointing to Chris Gayle and Glenn Maxwell as examples.
They spent a pretty penny on bringing Sam Curran in, but the England star has shown the ability to win games with bat and ball and has done it in this tournament before.
Shikhar Dhawan comes in as captain, and he was struck a blow with the news that Jonny Bairstow would miss out on the upcoming campaign with Aussie Matt Short named as a replacement.
The Kings will no doubt hope that Kagiso Rabada can replicate his best Delhi Capitals form for them as the South African possesses arguably the best yorker in the tournament, given the absence of Bumrah and Australian rocket launcher Mitchell Starc.
Zimbabwe allrounder Sikandar Raza gets a deserved reward for years of toil and carrying the Chevron’s efforts with an IPL payday, and he might yet have a big impact.
Raza looks set to act as understudy to English spin-bowling all-rounder Liam Livingstone who is one of the hottest properties in T20 cricket right now.
The absence of Bairstow could open the door for Sri Lanka batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa to play a central role and possibly open the batting alongside Dhawan. Another candidate to front the batting is wicketkeeper batter Prabhsimran Singh.
Full Squad:
Shikhar Dhawan (c), Shahrukh Khan, Matt Short, Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma, Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Nathan Ellis, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar, Sam Curran, Sikandar Raza, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Mohit Rathee, Shivam Singh.
Verdict:
Punjab Kings will likely fail to reach the playoffs despite their aggressive recruiting.
Rajasthan Royals 7/1
The Rajasthan Royals have simply scary batting led by arguably the best T20 batter in the world right now, Jos Buttler.
Sanju Samson will have a tough job settling on a playing XI and his four Impact players, given the stunning depth of talent at the Royals.
They were among the best teams last season as the losing finalists and will be determined to add a second title, having won their only IPL trophy all the way back in 2008.
England star Joe Root probably has the most significant point to prove of any of the international players, but his participation in the latter stages of the tournament hangs in the balance as he is wanted back in England for the start of the domestic red-ball season.
Prasidh Krishna has been struck by the India fast bowling injury crisis, but the Royals can still replace him in their squad.
Trent Boult is likely to play a central role given that fellow left-arm quick Obed McCoy is carrying a knee injury as well, and they will hope that Windies all-rounder Jason Holder arrives fit to bowl after the tour to South Africa.
The Royals will be a handful on turning tracks, given the availability of India spin kings Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin.
Full Squad:
Sanju Samson (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Jos Buttler, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Prasidh Krishna, Trent Boult, Obed McCoy, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Sen, Kuldip Yadav, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, KC Cariappa, Jason Holder, Donavon Ferreira, Kunal Rathore, Adam Zampa, KM Asif, M Ashwin, Akash Vashisht, Abdul PA, Joe Root.
Verdict:
With a slew of top competitors in their ranks, the Royals could be good for another run to the final.
Royal Challengers Bangalore 7/1
Of all the franchises without a title, the sting is likely felt the most in Bangalore, who have seen their star-studded Royal Challengers fall short time and again.
RCB have played more finals than any other team without an IPL title to their name but once again start a season with fresh confidence.
Faf du Plessis will captain the team, with Virat Kohli likely to be glued to the former Proteas skipper’s shoulder when decisions need to be made.
The schedule affords the Royal Challengers home advantage quite a bit more than the latter stages, and they will want to start well and build momentum in their bid to end that wait for a title.
New Zealand allrounder Michael Bracewell has come in to replace English batter Will Jacks, who was ruled out with injury, and the Kiwi has a chance to make a splash after some great recent form.
RCB will be relieved that Glenn Maxwell has recovered from a broken leg suffered in a freak accident last November while Kohli’s return to form will equally have them breathing a sigh of relief.
With Josh Hazlewood also an injury worry, RCB recruited England left-arm quick Reece Topley, and he could get plenty of opportunities given RCB’s lack of Indian pacemen beyond Harshal Patel and Mohammed Siraj.
Full squad:
Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Suyash Prabhudessai, Rajat Patidar, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat, Finn Allen, Glenn Maxwell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel, David Willey, Karn Sharma, Mahipal Lomror, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood, Siddarth Kaul, Akash Deep, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Michael Bracewell, Manoj Bhandage, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, R Sonu Yadav.
Prediction:
A strong playoff push could well end in just missing out or being defeated in the knockout stages.
Sunrisers Hyderabad 10/1
The Sunrisers won’t have the South African trio of Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen and Heinrich Klaasen available for the first match but should be delighted that all three come into the tournament match-fit and ready to win.
Markram recently led the Sunrisers Eastern Cape to the SA20 title, and he would love to be part of a charge to a second IPL title for the Hyderabad home base as their new skipper.
They appear to have focused their recruitment on bolstering batting strength with India international Mayanka Agarwal coming in and the Sunrisers winning a bidding war for emerging England star Harry Brook.
New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips looks set for a duel for the wicketkeeping gloves with Proteas star Klaasen.
The Sunrisers, like Mumbai, lack for a really strong spinning corps as back-up to Adil Rashid, but the England leg-spinner is a huge get for the Sunrisers as one of the best in the format.
Markram might even find occasion to bowl himself and fellow all-rounder Washington Sundar a little more than they might have planned, although one would also do well not to underestimate the impact that left-arm orthodox spinner Akeal Hosein could have.
They don’t really possess the biggest stars in the IPL, but they have plenty of batting power and bowling nous.
Full squad:
Aiden Markram (c), Abdul Samad, Rahul Tripathi, Glenn Phillips, Abhishek Sharma, Marco Jansen, Washington Sundar, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kartik Tyagi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik, Harry Brook, Mayank Agarwal, Heinrich Klaasen, Adil Rashid, Mayank Markande, Vivrant Sharma, Samarth Vyas, Sanvir Singh, Upendra Yadav, Mayank Dagar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Anmolpreet Singh, Akeal Hosein.
Prediction:
This side – like their South African satellite franchise – has the power to surprise. We could see the Sunrisers make a run to the playoffs this season.
