IPL 2025: The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 kickstarts on March 22 (Saturday) with 10 teams aiming to lift the highly coveted trophy.
The five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) aim for their sixth title in the forthcoming edition, while the three-time winners Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) target to defend their crown under Rahane’s leadership.
Rajasthan Royals (RR), Gujarat Titans (GT) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have won each title. Teams such as Punjab Kings (PBKS), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Delhi Capitals (DC), and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have appointed new captains to lead their respective squads and are yet to claim their maiden championship title.
With less than a week left for the IPL 2025 to commence, here are the power rankings that point out the frontrunners to win their title in the 18th season of the rich cash league.
1. Punjab Kings (PBKS)
It would be surprising to imagine a team like Punjab as the top contender to win the championship title, having qualified for the playoffs only twice. Out of which, the PBKS concluded as the semi-finalist in 2008 and runner-up in the 2014 edition.
However, their squad bolstered after the 2025 mega auction and features key performers like Azmatullah Omarzai, Shreyas Iyer, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, and so on…
PBKS Predicted XII Combination for IPL 2025:
- Prabhsimran Singh
- Josh Inglis (Wicketkeeper)
- Shreyas Iyer (Captain)
- Glenn Maxwell
- Nehal Wadhera
- Azmatullah Omarzai
- Shashank Singh
- Marco Jansen
- Harpreet Brar
- Vijaykumar Vyshak
- Arshdeep Singh
- Yuzvendra Chahal (Possible Impact Player)
2. Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
Hailed as one of the most successful IPL franchises, Chennai built a strong squad by improving the spin bowling attack, keeping in mind the spin-friendly conditions at the home venue.
Star players like Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, etc. can set the stage on fire and dominate the opposition:
CSK Predicted XII Combination for IPL 2025:
- Ruturaj Gaikwad (Captain)
- Rachin Ravindra
- Rahul Tripathi
- Deepak Hooda
- Shivam Dube
- Sam Curran
- Ravindra Jadeja
- MS Dhoni (Wicketkeeperper)
- Ravichandran Ashwin
- Noor Ahmad
- Matheesha Pathirana (Possible Impact Player)
- Anshul Kamboj
3. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
The previous season’s runner-up and the champions of the 2016 edition feature the most explosive T20 players in their squads. It includes the dynamic opening batters Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma.
However, SRH needs to strengthen their lower middle order as their batting performance starts to decline soon once the opening partnership is broken. Pat Cummins’s led side needs to ensure proper depth in the batting and bowling line-up to stay competitive in a dynamic format.
SRH Predicted XII Combination for IPL 2025:
- Travis Head
- Abhishek Sharma
- Ishan Kishan (Wicketkeeper)
- Heinrich Klaasen
- Nitish Kumar Reddy
- Abhinav Manohar
- Wiaan Mulder
- Pat Cummins
- Harshal Patel
- Jaydev Unadkat
- Rahul Chahar
- Mohammed Shami (Possible Impact Player)
4. Mumbai Indians (MI)
Mumbai Indians have a strong pace attack and Trent Boult needs to add fuel to the bowling line-up in Jasprit Bumrah’s absence, who is expected to miss the initial stages of the season. However, a huge depth in the batting line-up should be able to cover their drawbacks with the spin bowling attack.
MI Predicted XII Combination for IPL 2025:
- Rohit Sharma
- Ryan Rickelton (Wicketkeeper)
- Tilak Varma
- Suryakumar Yadav
- Will Jacks
- Hardik Pandya (Captain)
- Naman Dhir
- Mitchell Santner
- Karn Sharma
- Deepak Chahar
- Trent Boult
- Jasprit Bumrah (Possible Impact Player)
5. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
RCB has strengthened its bowling unit this season and has an explosive batting lineup in addition to Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar’s reliable services. However, the main disadvantage is that Bengaluru doesn’t have any quality spinners and specialist middle-order batters who can restore the innings from an early collapse.
RCB Predicted XII Combination for IPL 2025:
- Virat Kohli
- Phil Salt
- Rajat Patidar
- Krunal Pandya
- Jitesh Sharma
- Liam Livingstone
- Tim David
- Swapnil Singh
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar
- Yash Dayal
- Josh Hazlewood
- Suyash Sharma (Possible Impact Player)
6. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
It is surprising that KKR has parted ways with the IPL 2024 winning captain and appointed Rahane for the leadership role instead. Despite a huge batting line-up depth and quality all-rounders, the weakest segment is their new captain. Possibly, the management might be forced to make some harsh decisions in the middle of the season if the performance doesn’t live upto the standards.
KKR Predicted XII Combination for IPL 2025:
- Quinton de Kock (Wicketkeeper)
- Sunil Narine
- Ajinkya Rahane (Captain)
- Venkatesh Iyer
- Rinku Singh
- Angkrish Raghuvansh
- Andre Russell
- Ramandeep Singh
- Harshit Rana
- Anrich Nortje
- Vaibhav Arora
- Varun Chakravarthy (Possible Impact Player)
7. Rajasthan Royals (RR)
Except for Jos Buttler, the Rajasthan Royals have retained a majority of their core players. The inaugural season champions do not have a single seam-bowling all-rounder in the squad or highly skilled spinners would pose a challenge to their bowling attack.
However, the presence of Rahul Dravid as head coach will be a boon for the team, as India won the T20 World Cup the previous year following his guidance.
RR Predicted XII Combination for IPL 2025:
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- Sanju Samson (Captain and Wicketkeeper)
- Dhruv Jurel
- Riyan Parag
- Nitish Rana
- Shimron Hetmyer
- Wanindu Hasaranga
- Jofra Archer
- Yudhvir Singh
- Maheesh Theekshana
- Tushar Deshpande (Possible Impact Player)
- Sandeep Sharma
8. Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
Lucknow has one of the strongest batting line-ups this season, featuring the costliest IPL player Rishabh Pant as their top-order batter due to limited opening alternatives. However, Mitchell Marsh and Mayank Yadav are likely to miss a few matches in the tournament could be a huge blow to the franchise. In addition, injury-prone bowlers like Mohsin Khan and Shamar Joseph add a huge concern.
It is understood that LSG needs a bit of luck under Pant’s captaincy to experience a successful season.
LSG Predicted XII Combination for IPL 2025:
- Rishabh Pant (Captain and Wicketkeeper)
- Mitchell Marsh / Ayush Badoni
- Aiden Markram
- Nicholas Pooran
- David Miller
- Shahbaz Ahmed
- Mohsin Khan
- Ravi Bishnoi
- Akash Deep
- Shamar Joseph (Possible Impact Player)
- Avesh Khan
- M Siddharth
9. Gujarat Titans (GT)
The IPL 2022 winners Gujarat Titans have a strong set of bowlers, but face a threat from the batting lineup. This is because the top-order batters Shubman Gill, Jos Buttler, and Sai Sudharshan have a low degree of aggressive batting style. Also, the weak middle order is easily vulnerable to opponents’ bowling attacks.
GT Predicted XII Combination for IPL 2025:
- Shubman Gill (Captain)
- Jos Buttler (Wicketkeeper)
- Sai Sudharsan
- Shahrukh Khan
- Washington Sundar
- Glenn Phillips
- Rahul Tewatia
- Rashid Khan
- Kagiso Rabada
- Sai Kishore
- Mohammed Siraj
- Prasidh Krishna (Possible Impact Player)
10. Delhi Capitals (DC)
Despite Axar Patel’s limited IPL captaincy experience, Delhi Capitals selected him as the new skipper rather than considering KL Rahul’s past contributions as the LSG’s captain.
In addition, the management is still searching for a perfect replacement to fulfill Harry Brook’s absence. A lackluster pace bowling attack makes DC the least favorite to win the trophy.
DC Predicted XII Combination for IPL 2025:
- Jake Fraser-McGurk
- KL Rahul (Wicketkeeper)
- Faf du Plessis
- Abishek Porel
- Axar Patel (Captain)
- Tristan Stubbs
- Ashutosh Sharma
- Mitchell Starc
- Kuldeep Yadav
- Mukesh Kumar
- Mohit Sharma (Possible Impact Player)
- T Natarajan
