IPL 2023: Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings and Rohit’s Mumbai Indians strong contenders

New Delhi. The never-ending speculation over Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s future, Virat Kohli’s increasingly long wait for a title and Rohit Sharma’s form will be the focus of all eyes when the Indian Premier League begins on Friday. Dhoni, Kohli and Rohit have played a key role in making the IPL an exciting affair over the last 15 years, making India’s cricket fans eagerly wait for the tournament which runs for almost two months every year.

IPL is entering its 16th season and there are some changes being made in this tournament which can make a big impact. This time the ‘Impact Player’ rule will be introduced, while DRS can be used for wide and waist-high no-balls. Apart from this, two big broadcasters are also joining the ‘TV vs Digital’ battle of media rights this time. Dhoni has almost turned 42 but that hasn’t diminished his relevance among CSK fans.

These fans turn up in large numbers at Chepauk to see their ‘Thala’ hitting long sixes. People are saying that this will be Dhoni’s last year in the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) jersey but it has never been easier to speculate on the future of the legendary cricketer. Rohit also agrees with this and would not be surprised if his ‘captain’ of the Indian team continues to play till the age of 45. CSK’s team could not make it to the play-offs in 2022 and this time Dhoni’s eyes will be set on equaling Mumbai’s record of five titles.

The team has added Ben Stokes, who can turn the map of the match with his batting and bowling. Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad are likely to open while Ambati Rayudu has proved himself with the bat and Deepak Chahar with the ball. Simarjit Singh and Mathisa Pathirana had impressed in the previous season. If CAK go with three foreign players in Stokes, Moeen Ali and Conway, Pathirana can play the role of an ‘impact player’.

On the other hand, Rohit, the most successful IPL captain, will be hoping to get back to form for himself and his team. The team finished last among the 10 teams last season and will look to recover from that disappointment this year. Apart from the captain, the Mumbai team’s batting will depend on Ishan Kishan and world’s number one T20 International batsman Suryakumar Yadav. Suryakumar, who has been impressive in the T20 format, would be looking to make a fresh start in the new format after the disappointment of his first ball dismissal in the three ODIs against Australia. The fast bowling department will be strengthened by the presence of Jofra Archer but definitely the absence of Jasprit Bumrah will have an impact.

Mumbai, however, have their eyes set on building a team of the future which is evident from the young players in the squad like Dewald Brewis, Tim David, Cameron Green, Tilak Verma, Hrithik Shokeen and Kumar Karthikeya. Like Dhoni and Rohit, Kohli has also played in all IPLs but failed to win the title. He scored 973 runs in the 2016 season and breaking this record will not be easy for anyone. Kohli has played a few IPL finals but never won the title. Kohli is no longer the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and is probably in the best mental shape he has been in the last three to four years.

The presence of players like skipper Faf du Plessis, Michael Bracewell, Glenn Maxwell and Dinesh Karthik allows Kohli to play freely. This season will be especially important for Hardik Pandya as 2022 will be his chance to scale new heights after guiding Gujarat Titans to the title in his very first year. Pandya will be hoping that players like Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami and Shubman Gill carry on with last year’s form. If the team does well once again, then he will be a contender to lead the team in this format after the ODI World Cup this year.

The team has roped in Shivam Mavi in ​​place of Lockie Ferguson and some questions have been raised about this decision. Talking about Sunrisers Hyderabad, there will be a big challenge in front of the new captain Aiden Markram to boost the morale of the team. With the presence of Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Glenn Phillips and Harry Brook, the team looks better than it has in the past few years. However, the bowling of the team can be a cause of concern. Batsmen have now started understanding Umran Malik’s bowling better while Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s bowling is no longer as sharp as before.

The team’s performance will depend to some extent on how the team utilizes the fourth overseas player. He has fast bowler Marco Jason and spinner Adil Rashid as an option for the fourth overseas player. The Shikhar Dhawan-led Punjab Kings is another team that probably does not believe in consistency. The team has not been able to achieve the desired results since finishing runners-up in 2014. The team changed their captains, sacked the coach after a poor season and the team never showed stability. This time the team spent Rs 18 crore 50 lakh on Sam Curran.

Liam Livingstone (injured) and Kagiso Rabada (with the national team) will miss the initial few matches which could affect the team’s rhythm. Apart from Arshdeep Singh, the team also does not have any impressive Indian fast bowler. Lucknow Super Giants skipper Lokesh Rahul has had a disappointing 2023 international season so far and will be looking to put an end to that frustration in IPL 2023. Rahul has not been able to impress as captain and his batting style has also been questioned. Lucknow have a balanced team and have a skilled strategist in Gautam Gambhir.

The team has players like Krunal Pandya, Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni who provide support to the middle order. The team also has a bowler like Mark Wood who can trouble the opposition batsmen with his 150 kmph balls. Nicholas Pooran, who had a disappointing performance last season for Sunrisers, was bought by Lucknow for Rs 16 crore and will try his best to justify the bet. Kolkata Knight Riders will also rely heavily on their coach Chandrakant Pandit, who is a master strategist and in the absence of regular skipper Shreyas Iyer, it will be up to new captain Nitish Rana to execute his plans.

KKR’s performance, however, will largely depend on the West Indies duo of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine. Delhi Capitals will miss injured regular skipper Rishabh Pant but David Warner, who is going to lead the team in his absence, will be eyeing a second IPL trophy. The Rajasthan Royals team meanwhile has looked quite balanced. The team has the world’s most dangerous T20 hitter Jos Buttler, clever wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and the brilliant cricketing savvy R Ashwin apart from an effective captain in Sanju Samson.