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So, IPL 2018 it is. The Million Dollar Question – Who Will Win the Indian Premier League 2018?
This is the 11th year of the IPL and it’s really hard to say who will win this time as almost all of the teams are very, very good. Every team has trusted “Moneyball” strategies, first used in American Baseball, to choose their players. They have been very smart at how they have done it.
This IPL 2018 we can tell you will be the biggest IPL ever. Not the least because Indians are bored of all the politics and the news cycle in which the TRP-driven media follows up one outrage with another. An outrage for the day seems to have become the state of affairs in the country.
As most Indians will tell you, they have had enough of this. The IPL is a perfect antidote, a welcome relief, and thank goodness for that.
This IPL 2018 is already financially the most successful season in IPL history. The TV rights have been sold for more than $2.7 billion. That’s HUGE money, comparable to the world’s leading sporting league – the English Premier League.
More things change, the more they remain the same. M.S Dhoni, easily the greatest IPL player and a living legend these days, is back to where he belongs, his beloved Chennai Super Kings. They have been missed!
Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh are back with their original IPL teams, Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab. And everybody’s favorite rascal, Shane Warne is back as the mentor of Rajasthan Royals.
Virat Kohli, meanwhile soldiers on, 11 years with the same team – RCB. He is the only player to have lasted so long with a single team. Yes, some of the best players in the world miss out, for various reasons.
Kagiso Rabada and Mitchell Starc, the world’s premier fast bowlers, are injured and out of the IPL. I don’t have to tell you why David Warner and Steve Smith, two of the best batsmen in the world, are missing out!
I mean, you have to be living under a rock or something if you don’t know why Warner and Smith are not playing in this IPL, and won’t feature in any cricket for the next 12 months.
So back to the original question – Who will win IPL 2018?
Let’s take a quick look at the various teams and analyze their chances.
Kings XI Punjab
Possible Team: Aaron Finch, KL Rahul (wk), Karun Nair, Yuvraj Singh, David Miller, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, R Ashwin (capt), Mohit Sharma, Barinder Sran, Andrew Tye
Kings XI are led by R. Ashwin, a first time captain, but perhaps the most intelligent cricketer in the world today. It will be fascinating to see how Ashwin not only leads his team, but how he re-establishes himself as a T20 bowler. His place in the Indian limited overs side has been taken by a bunch of younger players.
Kings XI are a decent team, but nothing exceptional. They don’t have any world beaters in their ranks. Yuvraj Singh used to be one, but he is now too old for this.
The Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis is a good player, but really, we don’t expect this team to do much this season.
Delhi Daredevils
Possible Team: Gautam Gambhir (capt), Colin Munro, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Glenn Maxwell, Vijay Shankar, Chris Morris, Amit Mishra, Shahbaz Nadeem, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami
Delhi Daredevils is one team we like a lot, not the least because they have Gautam Gambhir leading them. Gambhir is an exceptional IPL captain. They have Chris Morris, a fast bowler who bats like a demon, Mohammad Shami and Trent Boult.
So, despite losing Rabada, they are well covered in the fast bowling department. Their batting looks good with Maxwell, Munro and young Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant.
We expect this team to be competitive, but they aren’t going to win for sure.
Mumbai Indians
Possible Team: Evin Lewis, Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma (capt), Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Pat Cummins, Mustafizur Rahman, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar
Mumbai Indians are a team that makes you go WOW, WHAT A TEAM! They are the most successful team in IPL history and always go into an Indian Premier League season as one of the favorites. It’s the case with this team as well.
This is a seriously good outfit led by Mr. Talent himself, Rohit Sharma. Then there is Hardik Pandya, the biggest sensation in Indian cricket these days. His brother Krunal is a very good all-rounder too.
Then you have a fast bowling attack comprised of Pat Cummins, Mustafizur Rahman and Jasprit Bumrah. I mean, how good is this side? Their opening pair of Evin Lewis and Ishan Kishan are young and untested, but have a good reputation.
Strong, strong favorites to win the whole thing.
Chennai Super Kings
Possible Team: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (capt and wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Mark Wood, Shardul Thakur
Oh, they are back- Chennai Super Kings. The most loved team in the IPL by far, and also one that has been through highly tragic circumstances. There is a lot of excitement over CSK, not the least because they have the living legend M.S. Dhoni leading them.
The batting is very good with the likes of Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu and Kedar Jadhav. In addition to that, they have Sam Billings and M Vijay. The lower order batting is powerful with Dhoni, Jadeja and Bravo.
The bowling is pretty decent too, although we are not sure about Mark Wood, Lungi Ngidi and Shardul Thakur. They could be the weak link in the team.
We expect them to make it to the semi-finals. After that, who knows!
Rajasthan Royals
Possible Team: Rahul Tripathi, Ajinkya Rahane (capt), Sanju Samson, Heinrich Klassen, Jos Buttler (wk), Ben Stokes, Stuart Binny, K Gowtham, Jofra Archer, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat
We have a very good feeling about Rajasthan Royals, not the least because they have Shane Warne managing them. Warne is a genius when it comes to cricket. They have some top talent such as Jofra Archer and D’arcy Short – there is a lot of excitement over them.
The opening fast bowling pair of Dhawal Kulkarni and Jaydev Unadkat is good and steady but nothing great. Of course, they have Ben Stokes and Jos Butler, both explosive finishers. But they have Stuart Binny. If you have read this blog in the past, you know what we think about Stuart Binny and his capabilities as a cricketer. (Haha!)
We expect them to make it to the semis.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Possible Team: Parthiv Patel (wk) and Brendon McCullum/Quinton de Kock and Manan Vohra, Virat Kohli (capt), AB de Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Colin De Grandhomme, Washington Sundar, Chris Woakes, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Siraj
RCB are the perennial losers of the IPL. They are one of the best supported teams in the tournament; they have Virat Kohli leading them, and have AB de Villiers too, but they have always faltered at some point.
Mainly because their bowling attack has never been good enough. Their bowling attack looks okay this time, with Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal and Umesh Yadav leading, but we don’t really have a high opinion of the other options. The batting is good, as it has always been with this team.
We don’t expect them to make it to the semi-finals.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Possible team: Kane Williamson (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Shakib Al Hasan, Carlos Brathwaite, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma/Syed Khaleel/ AhmedBasil Thampi
Sunrisers suffered a big blow when they lost David Warner, their captain and the most explosive opening batsman in the world. We are not sure about their batting order for this reason.
Shikhar is a very good player in this format, but he can’t do it all by himself. The batting will clearly struggle. The bowling doesn’t look too good either, because apart from Rashid Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar they don’t have any standout players.
This team will struggle in this year’s IPL. Will end up in the bottom 2.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Possible Team: Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa (wk), Shubman Gill, Dinesh Karthik (capt), Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Ishan Jaggi, Sunil Narine, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Johnson/Tom Curran, Vinay Kumar/ Kamlesh Nagarkoti
KKR is one team we are very excited about, not the least because they have Dinesh Karthik leading them. Karthik is a very good player who finally had his moment in the limelight recently, winning the Nidihas Tournament in Sri Lanka with a last ball six. He will have the confidence to carry his form forward in the IPL 2018 as well.
KKR have Chris Lynn, an explosive batsman, as long as he stays fit. Then they have Andre Russell, perhaps the best T20 player in the world – brilliant fast bowler and hard hitting batsman, can win the match with the bat or bowl. There is however a shadow over Sunil Narine’s bowling action. Narine is critical to this team.
We expect KKR to make it to the semi-finals.
Well, that’s it for now. Be sure to catch up with all the IPL news, match previews, and predictions on IndiaBet.org!
