The 15th edition of the Indian Premier League is set to kick off on March 26 with defending champions Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders going head to head. The league is also finally back in India after last year’s successful season in the UAE.
It’s also a very interesting season for most cricket fans because, for the first time in a while, the IPL will now have ten teams in total. Last year, it was confirmed that the two new teams are Lucknow Super Giants and Ahmedabad Gujarat Titans. With these new teams on board, the league will have a total of 70 matches that will run until May 29.
Before the 2022 IPL even begins, many are already in discussion about which team will win the season. Fans are also already wondering how the first IPL match of the year will go. Plenty of sites would give out today’s IPL match prediction but if you want to know more about what fans and experts are saying, keep reading. We’ll be talking about the favorites to win the championship this year.
Chennai Super Kings
CSK is the current defending champion and this is why it’s no surprise that people are still hyped up for them to win. Add the fact that the franchise was able to get most of its former players back. With that, we can say that CSK is may just be the king of consistency. If the team can keep the eagerness from last year, then they may dominate the league once again.
It was recently announced that MS Dhoni will be stepping down as the team’s captain and will be replaced by Ravindra Jadeja. This is going to be interesting because, on all of the four IPL titles that the team has brought home, MS Dhoni stood as the team captain.
Still, fans are interested to see how he will perform as the captain and how Dhoni’s gameplay will change now that he’s taking on a different role. In a recent interview, Jadeja talked about the role he now has.
He said, “Feeling good, at the same time, I also have to fill in big boots. Mahi Bhai has already set a big legacy so I need to carry it forward. I do not need to worry too much because he is here. Mahi Bhai will be my go-to person. He was and he still is today. So, I am not worried, thank you for your wishes and love. Keep supporting us.”
Aside from Dhoni and Jadeja, the other players part of the CSK this year are Moeen Ali, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Dwayne Bravo, Robin Uthappa, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Maheesh Theekshana, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Simarjeet Singh, Devon Conway, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Subhranshu Senapati, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, C Hari Nishaanth, N Jagadeesan, Chris Jordan, and K Bhagath Varma.
Rajasthan Royals
Rajasthan Royal’s first match this year will be on March 29 in Pune with Sunrisers Hyderabad. This team has only ever won the IPL once but fans are talking about how solid its lineup is this year. It seems like the franchise has also made sure that they get to improve their spin bowling this year when it purchased veterans like Yuzi Chahal and R Ashwin.
Last year, the team finished 7th out 8th so people saying that they may even win this season is saying a lot. The core team members this year are Jos Buttler, Yashavi Jaiswal, and Sanju Samson. Aside from a betting spin bowling department, the team also has a solid pace bowling department with Pradesh Krishna and Trent Boult.
Lucknow Super Giants
Another team that fans are talking so much about this year is one of the new additions to IPL, Lucknow Super Giants. Experts have been praising LSG’s way of picking its players during the Mega Auction. And now, everyone just can’t wait to see if this will do them good on the field.
LSG has a solid all-rounder team with Jason Holder and Marcus Stoinis. The team has also named KL Rahul as the team captain. Sanjiv Goenka, the franchise owner, spoke about this decision and said, “I have been very impressed by not only KL’s batting and wicket-keeping abilities, but his leadership skills as well. He is evolving, growing, maturing as a player and a leader.
“He is somebody I would’ve wanted to lead the team. And I do believe, given the right atmosphere, he will emerge as a phenomenal leader, and he has everything it takes to succeed.”
Goenka also explained the team’s dynamics which would make people understand why LSG now has a solid lineup that could win the 2022 IPL. He said, “KL is not only an outstanding batsman, but he’s also a great wicketkeeper. Marcus is a great finisher, a good bowler, and a phenomenal fielder. Ravi brings a unique dimension to the spin department and is an exceptional fielder.
“So we looked for players who could do more than just one thing, players who would be with the franchise for several years. And KL is in the batting department, Marcus is an all-rounder and Ravi is a bowler, so we have tried to cover all the three departments.”