Can Sanju Samson’s form rejuvenate CSK’s glory?:LSG’s Pooran boasts 196 strike rate, PBKS title contender; IPL Team Analysis Part-1

The 19th season of IPL will start from March 28. This time, the winner will be decided after 84 matches between 10 teams. 7 teams have already won the title, while Delhi, Punjab, and Lucknow are waiting for their first title. Sanju Samson, the Player of the Tournament in the T20 World Cup, seems to have bolstered Chennai. He scored runs at a strike rate of nearly 200. Lucknow’s Nicholas Pooran had a strike rate of 196 last season. Meanwhile, last season’s runner-up, Punjab Kings, also appears to be a title contender this time. Let’s analyse the five teams in the IPL team analysis story’s part-1: 1. Chennai Super Kings
Samson’s Strike Rate 199+
Dhoni Flopped Last Season CSK, which relied on experienced players, is full of young players this time. Last season, the team could only win 4 out of 14 matches and finished 10th. Chennai included T20 World Cup Player of the Tournament Sanju Samson in their team from Rajasthan through a trade deal. Sanju has captained Rajasthan, but will play under Ruturaj Gaikwad’s captaincy in CSK. Chennai had released Matheesha Pathirana, showing faith in Australia’s Nathan Ellis, but now Ellis is also out due to injury. In his place, left-arm pacer Spencer Johnson was included, who has only 5 wickets in 9 IPL matches. He has only played 8 T20s for Australia as well. Possible Playing-12: Sanju Samson, Ayush Mhatre, Ruturaj Gaikwad (Captain), Dewald Brevis, Prashant Veer, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni (Wicketkeeper), Akeal Hosein, Matt Henry, Anshul Kamboj, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed. 2. Rajasthan Royals
Archer leaking runs at an economy of 9.50
14-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will open After becoming champions in 2008, the Rajasthan Royals could only play the final once in the last 17 seasons, but lost to Gujarat there too. Last season, the team finished 9th, losing 10 matches like Chennai. Just before the tournament, the team got a new owner. In exchange for releasing Samson, the team included Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran. Jadeja was also part of the champion team in 2008, and he will play under the captaincy of Riyan Parag. All-rounder Karan was ruled out of the tournament due to injury. He had scored 167 runs and taken 6 wickets in the previous World Cup. In place of Karan, Rajasthan included Sri Lanka’s T20 captain and all-rounder Dasun Shanaka. Shanaka remained unsold in the last 3 IPL auctions, but every time he came into the tournament as a replacement yet could play only 3 games. Strength: Yashasvi and Vaibhav had an opening partnership of 422 runs in 7 matches last season. During this, both scored at a run rate of 12.17. Shimron Hetmyer has also returned to form, scoring 248 runs at a strike rate of 185 plus in the World Cup. Weakness: Last season, Rajasthan’s bowling was the worst. Jofra Archer has been conceding runs at an economy of 9.50 for 2 seasons. Apart from Sandeep Sharma, the other bowlers also lack experience. Possible Playing-12: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag (Captain), Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (Wicketkeeper), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Dasun Shanaka, Ravi Bishnoi, Jofra Archer, Sandeep Sharma, Tushar Deshpande. 3. Sunrisers Hyderabad
Scored 275+ runs 4 times
No spinner could take even 15 wickets 2016 champions Sunrisers Hyderabad will play the initial few matches without captain Pat Cummins. Ishan Kishan will captain in his place. The 2024 runner-up team finished sixth last season after losing 7 matches. The team released Mohammed Shami and bought Liam Livingstone for ₹13 crore, who didn’t even get a place in England’s T20 World Cup squad. All-rounder Jack Edwards was also ruled out due to injury; the team included David Payne in his place. Sri Lanka’s Eshan Malinga will also not be able to play the initial matches. After releasing experienced players like Abhinav Manohar, Adam Zampa, and Rahul Chahar, the team included young players like Shivam Mavi, Salil Arora, Sakib Hussain, Krains Fuletra, and Amit Kumar. Strength: Hyderabad was the only team to score at a run rate of 10 in the last season. The team has scored 275+ runs 4 times, and SRH also holds the record for chasing 246 runs against Punjab. Batting will remain the team’s biggest strength. Weakness: No spinner in the current squad has taken 15 wickets in the IPL. Livingstone has 13 wickets, and Abhishek has taken 11 wickets; both have been kept by the team for batting. Last year, the team conceded runs at an economy of 9.9. Possible Playing-12: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen (wicketkeeper), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Liam Livingstone, Aniket Verma, Pat Cummins (captain), Harshal Patel, Harsh Dubey, Zeeshan Ansari, Jaydev Unadkat. 4. Punjab Kings
Openers formed 1000+ run partnership
Wadhera and Shedge out of form Punjab Kings, who haven’t won a single title in 18 years, will once again be captained by Shreyas Iyer. Under his captaincy, the team was runner-up last season. In the league stage, the team finished at number 1. PBKS did not make many changes in the auction. They released 3 players and bought 4 new ones. Josh Inglis was released, and Cooper Connolly was bought to increase the spin options. Lockie Ferguson will not be able to play the initial few matches, but to compensate for his absence, strong options like Yash Thakur, Vijaykumar Vyshak, and Xavier Bartlett are available in the team. Punjab has a perfect team and a champion captain, so the team is a contender to win the title. Strength: Every player’s role is defined. Priyansh and Prabhsimran provide a quick start in the opening, both formed a partnership of 1000+ runs last season. Meanwhile, Janson at number 8 also hits big shots. Captain Shreyas scored 604 runs at a strike rate of 175 last season, he is the team’s biggest strength. Weakness: Over-reliant on the top order; this weakness prevented them from becoming champions last season. Middle-order batters could not perform in the final. Wadhera, Sheddge, and Shashank were prevented by teams from scoring quick runs. Possible Playing-12: Prabhsimran Singh (Wicketkeeper), Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Mitchell Owen, Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Lockie Ferguson. 5. Lucknow Supergiants
Marsh-Pooran’s strike rate 160+
Pant flopped last season Lucknow Super Giants, who reached the playoff stage in 2022 and 2023, finished 7th in both previous seasons. Rishabh Pant was a complete flop as captain; he did score a century in the last match, but couldn’t perform well in the other matches. Josh Inglis was bought in the auction; if he can play the entire season, he will significantly strengthen the team’s power hitting. International bowlers like Wanindu Hasaranga, Anrich Nortje, and Mohammed Shami were bought, but due to the foreign player rule, only one of Nortje and Hasaranga will be able to play. Shami could only take 6 wickets last season, but he picked up 16 wickets in 7 matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Mayank Yadav, Mohsin, and Avesh Khan are troubled by injuries; if they can stay fit, Lucknow can make it to the playoffs after 2 years. Strength: Marsh, Markram, and Pooran together scored over 1500 runs last season. Marsh and Pooran’s strike rate was over 160. Shami, who took 16 wickets in SMAT, is strengthening the bowling unit. Weakness: After the top order, Lucknow’s middle order completely flopped last season. The team has now also released David Miller. Digvesh Rathi could only play 5 T20s after the last IPL. He also proved expensive in the Delhi Premier League. Possible Playing-12: Mitchell Marsh, Josh Inglis, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (Wicketkeeper and Captain), Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Digvesh Rathi, Mohammed Shami, Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan/Mayank Yadav.