The stage is set, the excitement is palpable, and cricket fans around the world are gearing up for the grand spectacle that is the IPL 2025. The cricketing Kumbh mela starts today on March 22nd.
The IPL 2025 opening ceremony in Eden Gardens, Kolkata, a dazzling affair in true IPL fashion, will feature Bollywood’s stars as usual and promises to kick off the season with all the typical glitz and grandeur that is associated with IPL opening ceremonies
Once the festivities around the opening ceremony conclude, the cricketing action will begin in full swing. For two months, the IPL will occupy every cricket fan’s headspace with hopefully thrilling nail-biting finishes.
The recent mega auction held in November 2024 has given the teams a fresh new look, sparking curiosity about the strategies and player combinations they’ll unveil. Will Royal Challengers Bangalore able to lift the trophy for the first time on the back of Virat Kohli’s return to form. Can Ricky Ponting turn the fortunes of Punjab Kings around? Will Chennai Super Kings find the magic once again with the reunion of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin? Or will a dark horse rise to challenge the seasoned favorites?
IPL 2025 Team Predictions
Here are the predicted playing XI for each team along with their 12th impact sub player:
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
- Ruturaj Gaikwad (c)
- Devon Conway*
- Rahul Tripathi
- Shivam Dube
- Sam Curran*
- Deepak Hooda
- Ravindra Jadeja
- MS Dhoni (wk)
- Ravichandran Ashwin
- Noor Ahmad*
- Matheesha Pathirana*
- Khaleel Ahmed
Delhi Capitals (DC)
- Jake Fraser-McGurk*
- KL Rahul (wk)
- Faf Duplesis
- Abishek Porel
- Tristan Stubbs*
- Axar Patel (c)
- Ashutosh Sharma
- Mitchell Starc*
- Kuldeep Yadav
- T Natarajan
- Mukesh Kumar
- Sameer Rizvi
Gujarat Titans (GT)
- Shubman Gill (c)
- Jos Buttler*
- Sai Sudharsan
- Glenn Phillips*
- Washington Sundar
- Shahrukh Khan
- Rahul Tewatia
- Rashid Khan*
- Kagiso Rabada*
- Prasidh Krishna
- Mohammed Siraj
- Sai Kishore
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
- Sunil Narine*
- Quinton de Kock* (wk)
- Ajinkya Rahane (c)
- Angkrish Raghuvanshi
- Venkatesh Iyer
- Rinku Singh
- Andre Russell*
- Ramandeep Singh
- Harshit Rana
- Spencer Johnson*
- Varun Chakravarthy
- Vaibhav Arora
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
- Rishabh Pant (c & wk)
- Mitchell Marsh*
- Nicholas Pooran*
- Ayush Badoni
- David Miller*
- Abdul Samad
- Shahbaz Ahmed
- Shardul Thakur
- Ravi Bishnoi
- Avesh Khan
- Shamar Joseph*
- Manimaran Siddharth
Mumbai Indians (MI)
- Rohit Sharma
- Ryan Rickelton* (wk)
- Tilak Varma
- Suryakumar Yadav
- Hardik Pandya (c)
- Naman Dhir
- Robin Minz
- Mitchell Santner*
- Deepak Chahar
- Mujeeb Ur Rehman *
- Karn Sharma
- Trent Boult *
Punjab Kings (PBKS)
- Prabhsimran Singh
- Josh Inglis* (wk)
- Shreyas Iyer (c)
- Glen Maxwell*
- Marcus Stoinis*
- Nehal Wadhera
- Shashank Singh
- Marco Jansen*
- Harpreet Brar
- Arshdeep Singh
- Yuzvendra Chahal
- Kuldeep Sen
Rajasthan Royals (RR)
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- Sanju Samson (c)
- Nitish Rana
- Riyan Parag
- Dhruv Jurel (wk)
- Shimron Hetmyer*
- Shubham Dubey
- Wanindu Hasaranga*
- Jofra Archer*
- Maheesh Theekshana*
- Sandeep Sharma
- Tushar Deshpande
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
- Virat Kohli
- Phil Salt * (wk)
- Devdutt Paddikal
- Rajat Patidar (c)
- Liam Livingstone*
- Krunal Pandya
- Jitesh Sharma
- Tim David*
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar
- Josh Hazelwood*
- Yash Dayal
- Rasikh Salam
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
- Travis Head*
- Abhishek Sharma
- Ishan Kishan (wk)
- Nitish Reddy
- Heinrich Klaasen*
- Sachin Baby
- Abhinav Manohar
- Pat Cummins* (c)
- Harshal Patel
- Mohammed Shami
- Rahul Chahar
- Adam Zampa*
IPL 2025 Playoff Predictions
T20 is a fickle game and it is very hard to predict. However, based on the balance of the playing 12 and the overall squad depth, the following four teams seem well-positioned to reach the playoffs this season.,
- Mumbai Indians (MI)
- Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
- Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
- Chennai SuperKings (CSK)
IPL 2025 Winner Prediction
Any of the four playoff contenders could lift the IPL trophy this season. However, assuming that Jasprit Bumrah becomes available during the latter stages of the tournament, Mumbai Indians are strong favourites to claim their sixth championship title.
IPL 2025 Dark Horse
With Ricky Ponting now at the helm of Punjab Kings and Shreyas Iyer showcasing scintillating form while reuniting with him, Punjab Kings has the potential to emerge as the dark horse of this tournament. It will be fascinating to see how their campaign unfolds!
With 74 games scheduled, there’s no shortage of cricketing drama ahead. As the countdown begins, one thing is certain—the IPL 2025 will deliver its signature mix of glitz, glamour, and exhilarating cricket. Let the games begin!
