IPL 2022 - Who Will Take the Crown?

Every single cricket aficionado across the globe had their eyes on the Indian Premier League 2022 auction. The mega auction saw a whopping 600 players going under the hammer and only 204 players found themselves buyers. Unlike the previous editions, the 2022 or the 15th edition of the IPL will see 10 teams as two new sides have been introduced. Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans are the brand new teams and they were granted three players each from the draft and I guess they did fairly well. The rest of the usual culprits had a lot of business to do and boy they did pretty well!

Let’s not waste any more time and get straight to the squad analysis, future odds and other nitty gritties. However, if I give away my tip for the favourite to win the IPL 2022 edition, you guys are going to take off after going through the first paragraph itself. Therefore, I am going to hold on to that thought for now and get going with the others.

Chennai Super Kings - @ 9.00

Captain - MS Dhoni

It was kind of obvious that I would kickstart this session with the reigning champions Chennai Super Kings. The MS Dhoni-led ‘yellove’ outfit claimed their fourth IPL title in the previous season after they outclassed Kolkata Knight Riders in the final. Needless to say, CSK are the second most successful franchise after Mumbai Indians and the way they went about in the mega auction earlier this month, it seemed that they went after the players who were playing for them already. The Super Kings also made some interesting buys at the mega auction, which only solidified their unit. Yes, I know, many of you are aware of the fact that MS Dhoni and his band of boys boast a higher age average than any of the other teams in the IPL. But look at the results they have achieved - two titles in 2018 and 2021, and they were the runners up in 2019. Now as we all know by now that the IPL 2022 will only be played across Mumbai and Pune, therefore the home advantage goes right out of the window. But Chennai Super Kings have won quite a few matches across the venues of Mumbai and Pune. Let us go through the squad that CSK have created this time around for the 15th edition of the IPL:

Retained: MS Dhoni (C & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali.

Newly added: Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Dwayne Bravo, Devon Conway, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Shivam Dube, Chris Jordan, Dwayne Pretorious, KM Asif, N Jagadeesan, Bhagath Varma, Adam Milne, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, Simranjeet Singh, Hari Nishaanth, Subhranshu Senapati.

Now if you take a closer look at that squad, the first eight names will give you an idea about the top 8 and there are 17 more players to choose three more from. Deepak Chahar and Shivam Dube automatically make it to the 11 and between Adam Milne, Dwayne Pretorious and Chris Jordan, one of them should make it to the playing XI. That is a very very strong squad and MS Dhoni and co. will surely be a threat yet again. But will they go all the way in IPL 2022? I am not too sure either and therefore Pari Match has offered futuristic odds of 9.00 for Chennai Super Kings to win the title.

Mumbai Indians - @ 5.50

Captain - Rohit Sharma

The most decorated team of the Indian Premier League, Mumbai Indians, will yet again resume their journey after a title-less season, post their back-to-back IPL silverwares. However, Pari Match is considering them to be the favourites to win the title and I somehow don’t. I have my reasons and you will be enlightened about the same by the end of this piece. Coming back to Rohit Sharma and co. I don’t know after how long Mumbai Indians did not make it to the IPL Playoffs in the last season. They are a team with a lot of conviction and potential and boy they live up to it every single season. They have a pattern - the Men in Blue start slow and then they pick up their pace right till the end of the season. Moreover, every game will be played in their backyard and that is a freaking fortress; it does not matter where they play in Mumbai. Mumbai Indians maintained their core with four retentions and they have done some serious business during the mega auction earlier this month in Bengaluru. They broke the bank for Ishan Kishan, who was already a member, Tim David and England’s pace sensation Jofra Archer. Rohit Sharma and co. are a serious bunch of cricketers and every time they take the field, there is a sense of anticipation. If one of their players fails to deliver, it is almost inevitable that another member would step up to the plate. But somehow this has not happened in the last season of the IPL and that’s what hurt them and eventually they managed to finish in the fifth place. Let us take a look at their squad now:

Retained: Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard and Suryakumar Yadav.

Newly added: Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brevis, Basil Thampi, Murugan Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, N. Tilak Varma, Sanjay Yadav, Jofra Archer*, Daniel Sams*, Tymal Mills*, Tim David*, Riley Meredith*, Mohd. Arshad Khan, Anmolpreet Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Aryan Juyal, Fabian Allen*, Rahul Buddhi, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar.

I mean look at this squad guys! There are proper batsmen, there are hard-hitting all-rounders, there are finishers and there is the deadly duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer. Tim David will be a fantastic addition to the already sensational squad along with the young AB de Villiers of South Africa - Dewald Brevis. Will Mumbai Indians lift their 6th? Well, they probably will make it to the playoffs, even in the finals, but win the trophy again? Naaaah! Pari Match though is offering odds of 5.50 for Mumbai Indians to win the 15th season of the IPL.

Kolkata Knight Riders - @ 11.00

Captain - Shreyas Iyer

The two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders came agonisingly close to their third silverware. After a late surge in the second half of the tournament, powered them to finish fourth in the points table. Under the leadership of Eoin Morgan, KKR managed to outshine the best side of the tournament in the Qualifier 2 - Delhi Capitals. However, the Knight Riders fell short by 27 runs in the end. They are, in fact, the third most successful franchise of the Indian Premier League. Coming into this 15th season of the IPL, KKR retained four of their star players and they did relatively well in the IPL 2022 mega auction. Moreover, for the third season continuing, KKR players will not get the feel of their home turf Eden Gardens as all the matches in the group stages are supposed to be played in Mumbai and Pune. Let us take a look their squad depth:

Retained: Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Varun Chakravarthy, Andre Russell.

Newly added: Pat Cummins, Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana, Shivam Mavi, Sheldon Jackson, Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Sam Billings, Alex Hales, Rasikh Dar, Baba Indrajith, Chamika Karunaratne, Abhijeet Tomar, Pratham Singh, Ashok Sharma, Mohammad Nabi, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Ramesh Kumar, Aman Khan.

You must have realised by now that they have tried to bring some of their existing players back and they did. Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Nitish Rana and Tim Southee are the players they have brought back home. Having lost Eoin Morgan as the skipper, they were in dire need of a skipper and they did go all the way for Shreyas Iyer spending 12.25 crore. Ajinkya Rahane, Sam Billings, Alex hales, Mohammad Nabi, Umesh Yadav are few of the star attractions from the Men in Purple and Gold side. Pari Match is offering odds of 11.00 for KKR to win the IPL 2022 and I believe they are somehow correct about it.

Punjab Kings - @ 6.50

Captain - TBD

This is where things get interesting as Punjab Kings is my next pick from the 10 we have in this competition. Preity Zinta’s side came so close to winning the title for the first time in 2014 but KKR had other plans for them. Punjab Kings, formerly known as Kings XI Punjab, are one of the three teams who are yet to get their hands on that coveted silverware. Ever since that 2014 season, they have shown sparks of brilliance but have never really gone that far. However, this time Punjab Kings wanted to rejig their entire squad and retained only two players in the form of Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh. Therefore, going into the auction, Punjab Kings have the biggest purse. The business they have gone about in the mega auction earlier this month was really interesting. Punjab Kings have bought some really handy players for the upcoming season of the IPL. Without any further delay let us take a look at their squad:

Retained: Mayank Agarwal, Arshdeep Singh.

Newly added: Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Jonny Bairstow, Rahul Chahar, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Prabhsimran Singh, Ishan Porel, Liam Livingstone, Odean Smith, Sandeep Sharma, Raj Angad Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Prerak Mankad, Atharva Taide, Vaibhav Arora, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Writtick Chatterjee, Baltej Dhanda, Ansh Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Benny Howell, Nathan Ellis.

The way Punjab Kings have gone about for the forthcoming edition of the IPL, they seem to mean business and I will definitely not be surprised if they make it to the playoffs easily. Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow to open the innings for Punjab Kings and their middle-order looks pretty solid too with Liam Livingstone, Shahrukh Khan, Odeon Smith adding to their firepower. The bowling department should come into play as well. Pari Match has offered futuristic odds of 6.50 for Punjab Kings to take the trophy home.

Rajasthan Royals - @ 9.00

Captain - Sanju Samson

How many of you remember Rajasthan Royals winning the title in the very first season of the IPL? That last ball four from Shane Warne’s bat off Lakshmipathy Balaji’s delivery outside the off stump - wow, it is as if it was scripted for the emphatic finish! Ever since that imperialistic finish, Rajasthan Royals have never been able to make their presence felt in the IPL. They did, I would be lying if they did not, but in patches. However, they had the second biggest purse in the mega auction after Punjab Kings, as they retained only three players instead of four. Just like everyone else Rajasthan Royals too would not have the home advantage, which means they too are entering a territory where most of the teams will be in. The Royals went into a frenzy towards the latter stage of the mega auction to fill their overseas spaces. To be honest, the Royals made a few very good buys and somehow they have made it to this list of futuristic odds of Pari Match. Let’s take a closer look at the squad:

Retained: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson.

Newly added: Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Riyan Parag, KC Cariappa, Navdeep Saini, Obed McCoy, Anunay Singh, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Kuldeep Sen, Karun Nair, Rassie van der Dussen, Daryl Mitchell, Dhruv Jurel, Tejas Baroka, Kuldip Yadav, Shubham Garhwal.

They might have missed out on the likes of Ben Stokes and David Miller, but they sure as hell did make up for it by roping in Trent Boult, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shimron Hetmeyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Rassie van der Dussen, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Nathan Coulter Nile and more. I mean look at those names! It is understandable that they can play only four foreigners but for me I guess the four overseas players should be Jos Buttler, Trent Boult, James Neesham and Nathan Coulter Nile. Pari Match is offering odds of 9.00 for Rajasthan Royals to win the IPL 2022.

Royal Challengers Bangalore - @ 8.00

Captain - TBD

This is even more interesting considering the futuristic odds offered by Pari match for Royal Challengers Bangalore. The biggest move was Virat Kohli giving away his captaincy in order to focus on his game. Since 2019, we haven't experienced a century from the bat of the master. Do you remember the 2016 season? It was Virat Kohli in his prime where he notched up 973 runs in a single IPL season, the most by anyone! Now that we know, we are going to have a new skipper in the Red and Black, we can expect some serious fireworks even in the absence of AB de Villiers. With RCB seeking a captain they did some interesting business in the mega auction of IPL 2022. We are aware 2016 was the season when RCB came agonisingly close to winning the IPL but unfortunately they have not. With this new squad, which we are going to review, will they be able to go all the way? Let's take a look:

Retained: Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammad Siraj.

Newly added: Faf du Plessis, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik, Josh Hazlewood, Shahbaz Ahmad, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Sherfane Rutherford, Jason Behrendorff, Suyash Prabhudessai, Chama Milind, Aneeshwar Gautam, Karn Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, Luvnith Sisodia, David Willey.

If you look at this squad, you will be spotting some serious talent. It is understood, Faf, getting the captaincy and the rest of the team will be built around him. In my opinion, Wanindu Hasaranga and Josh Hazlewood should be the other two overseas players playing in the XI. Pari Match is offering odds of 8.00 for Royal Challengers Bangalore for the first time ever.

Sunrisers Hyderabad - @ 13.00

Captain - Kane Williamson

We have had enough drama for one season already. Now that we know David Warner isn’t going to be a part of the Men in Orange, we have to think otherwise. Sunrisers Hyderabad are a very diligent team. With able guidance and confidence, they have been able to reach unprecedented heights. Kane Williamson, the sweetest captain we know he is, will be leading the charge for the men from Hyderabad. This is a team we don’t usually consider as one of the dark horses but they have somehow over trumped the ideas of cricketing statistics. The solitary champion had the opportunity to rebuild their squad from scratch and so they did. They retained certain unique players to magnify their brilliance off the field. Without any further delay, let us take a look at the kind of players they have added to their squad:

Retained: Kane Williamson, Umran Malik, Abdul Samad

Newly added: Washington Sundar, Nicholas Pooran, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Priyam Garg, Rahul Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma, Kartik Tyagi, Shreyas Gopal, Jagadeesha Suchith, Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Romario Shepherd, Sean Abbott, R Samarth, Shashank Singh, Saurabh Dubey, Vishnu Vinod, Glenn Phillips, Fazalhaq Farooqi.

With the addition of Rahul Tripathi, the Sunrisers have gotten a gem at the top of the order. The skipper Williamson will be adding to the brilliance of the powerplay shenanigans. The Men in Orange will be counting on the firepower of Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Phillips and the others. Pari Match is offering ridiculous odds of 13.00 for Sunrisers Hyderabad to win the Indian Premier League.

Gujarat Titans - @ 10.00

Captain - Hardik Pandya

This is where we are getting into a new territory of the IPL. Gujarat Titans are a new side that have been incorporated into an extravaganza which we famously known as the IPL. The new franchise had the option of drafting in three players ahead of the start of the mega auction earlier this month. Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill were the three players they had roped in while drafting. During the auction, the Titans were seemingly clueless on the first day. However, they were allowed to do some pretty good business on the second day of the mega auction. Considering they are a new team, it is as if they were going after the players, whom the others were not opting for. As we understand, Hardik Pandya will be leading the XI, they were trying to build a team around him. Since they do not have any history whatsoever in the IPL, I am not being able to judge them on their selection of the squad. However , as they are a part of the most coveted T20 tournament of the world, I will still help you guys to dwell deep into the periphery of the squad.

Drafted: Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill.

Newly added: Mohammed Shami, Jason Roy, Lockie Ferguson, Abhinav Sadarangani, Rahul Tewatia, Noor Ahmad, R. Sai Kishore, Dominic Drakes, Jayant Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Darshan Nalkande, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, Pradeep Sangwan, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, B. Sai Sudarshan, Gurkeerat Singh, Varun Aaron.

From the beginning, a squad would want to tick all the boxes, but Gujarat Titans seem to have missed a few. With no experience of taking on the big daddies of the IPL, it will surely be a challenge to keep up with the pace. However, Pandya and co. will have enough firepower to take on the likes of the giants of the most decorated T20 tournament of the world. Pari Match is being kind enough to offer odds of 10.00 for the new team to win the IPL in the new season.

Lucknow Super Giants - @ 13.00

Captain - KL Rahul

This is not the first time that Dr. Sanjeev Goenka is exploring the world of the Indian Premier League. The last time when he was at the helm of an IPL side, the coveted trophy almost went to his pocket. Not to forget, the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni was leading the team and they somehow fell short to the most successful team of the IPL universe - Mumbai Indians. This time Mr. Goenka is back again with a serious squad, which is ready to challenge the who’s who of world cricket. Just like the Titans, the Super Giants were allowed to draft in three of their squad members and boy, he went for the very best! KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis and Ravi Bishnoi were the three warriors who would lead the charge. Not to forget, Mr. Rahul is the most expensive cricketer to have been retained or drafted in the history of the most coveted T20 competition in the world. Somehow, Lucknow Super Giants were not informed they had to do business on the second day of the mega auction as well. Haha! Kidding! However, Mr. Goenka and co. went about their business as we never expected. Without any further delay, let me take you through the squad that Lucknow Super Giants have accumulated:

Drafted: KL Rahul, Marcus Stoinis, Ravi Bishnoi.

Newly added: Quinton de Kock, Manish Pandey, Jason Holder, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Mark Wood, Avesh Khan, Ankit Rajpoot, K Gowtham, Dushmanta Chameera, Shahbaz Nadeem, Manan Vohra, Evin Lewis, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, Ayush Badoni, Kyle Mayers, Karan Sharma.

If you are to look at the squad deeply, you would realise KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock would be opening the innings for the Super Giants. Manish Pandey, Marcus Stoinis and Manan Vohra should form the middle-order. The Super Giants will have plenty of bowling options in their lineup as well. Pari Match somehow is offering 13.00 for Lucknow Super Giants to win this league for the first time. I feel it is quite outrageous being a cricket fan and a punter to believe so.

Delhi Capitals - @ 6.50

Captain - Rishabh Pant

This is where I get to draw all your attention! The moment you have been waiting for - Delhi Capitals is my dark horse to win the IPL 2022! Woah! Are you not surprised yet? How many of you remember the Delhi Daredevils days? Ever since they have changed their name to Delhi Capitals, there seems to be a sense of optimism. They came very close to winning the silverware frequently in the last few years but somehow they have failed to do so. Ricky Ponting, who was the head coach of the side, has been working tirelessly to build a very strong squad ever since he has been at the helm of the squad. They did not have any qualms before retaining Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Anrich Nortje and Axar Patel. Heading into the IPL 2022 mega auction, the Capitals meant business. The way they went about buying players in the auction, it meant only one thing, they are going for the kill. The Capitals never bothered about their home advantage. They seem to perform at any given stage of the IPL. Somehow, they haven’t been able to get their hands on the silverware. The Rishabh Pant-led squad, according to me, is the strongest IPL squad that I have ever witnessed. The owners went about buying almost every player that deemed fit into the squad. Eventually, the kind of players bought by the side from the North seem to be ready for the challenge ahead of them. Now that we have reached the end of this piece, let us take a look at my dark horse or rather the favourites to win the Indian Premier League 2022:

Retained: Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Anrich Nortje, Axar Patel.

Newly added: David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Shardul Thakur, Mustafizur Rahman, Kuldeep Yadav, Ashwin Hebbar, Sarfaraz Khan, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, KS Bharat, Mandeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Chetan Sakariya, Lalit Yadav, Ripal Patel, Yash Dhull, Vicky Ostwal, Pravin Dubey, Rovman Powell, Tim Seifert, Lungi Ngidi.

This is where I bring in my expertise about the knowledge of the Indian Premier League! Delhi Capitals have been trying to get their hands on the trophy for a while and I believe this is it! I mean, look at the squad! One should be spoilt for choices. The way the Capitals are going about it, the first IPL trophy should not be far away. Even Pari Match seems to be agreeing with the thoughts I have about Rishabh Pant and co. As they are offering odds of 6.50 for Delhi Capitals to lift the trophy for the first time ever in the history of the Indian Premier League.