Team Preview – Mumbai, Lucknow, Rajasthan & Bangalore

All the above-mentioned teams have done relatively well in the Indian T20 League auctions. Some better than others of course. Mumbai who was hiding on the first day went out shopping on the second day and got some absolute match winners. Same cannot be said for the Lucknow franchise. Gautam Gambhir is a very smart person and he knows the formula for winning the Indian T20 league as he has won twice as a captain. In the auction room, Lucknow signed some good talent who can help them finish in the playoffs.

Rajasthan were famously known for signing players by offering huge amounts of money to them. This year, they acted smart and signed players that can win them games and even have the potential to lift their second Indian T20 League title. Coming to Bangalore, the team had shoes to fill. Virat Kohli has relinquished his captaincy while AB De Villiers has retired from cricket. They have found the replacements but still there’s a lot of talking points.

Talking about Mumbai first, the team signed Ishan Kishan for a whooping 15.25 crores. There’s no doubt that he is an important player who has given Mumbai a lot of success and thus having him on board must be a delight for the franchise. Other than that, they were very much quiet in the auction room. They picked a couple of more players on day one but none of them are legit match winners. On the second day, Mumbai had a lot of money left and that’s when they went shopping. The surprise of the lot is that they bought Jofra Archer for a lot of money knowing that he will not take part in this year’s Indian T20 League. They have also signed Tim David, who has already become a star in the franchise cricket. The team has a solid core but they will suffer in the spin department. With only Mayank Markande and Murugan Ashwin, the team might lag a bit. Indian backups are also a question for this team. Mumbai might just struggle to finish in the top four this year.

Mumbai Squad - Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard, Suryakumar Yadav, 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, Rahul Buddhi, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Aryan Juyal, Fabian Allen

Team Rating – 8/10

Lucknow has definitely put up an impressive squad that can very well compete for the title. With KL Rahul and Quinton De Kock opening the batting, the team can impose a lot of pressure in the powerplay and they have players like Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder, Deepak Hooda and Krunal Pandya who can win them games by batting aggressively towards the end of the match. They are shy of one Indian batter and an Indian pacer though. They signed Avesh Khan, who can be lethal but the team doesn’t have a proper backup for him. Manish Pandey’s form will also be under a scan. Overall, the team looks pretty good and should challenge for the title.

Lucknow squad - KL Rahul (c), Ravi Bishnoi, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Jason Holder, Manish Pandey, Quinton de Kock, Krunal Pandya, Mark Wood, Avesh Khan, Ankit Singh Rajpoot, Krishnappa Gowtham, Dushmanta Chameera, Shahbaz Nadeem, Manan Vohra, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Kyle Mayers, Karan Sharma, Evin Lewis, Mayank Yadav

Team Rating – 9/10

Rajasthan has impressed one and all in the auction table. They have got hold of some absolute match winners who will surely win them games. Kumar Sangakkara, the former Sri Lankan Captain is the current Director of Cricket of the team and he has done a phenomenal job in getting some quality talent in the auction. With Devdutt Padikkal and Jos Buttler in the top three, expect some firepower in the power plays from Rajasthan. They also have Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer in the middle order. So, the batting looks absolutely stunning. When it comes to their bowling attack. They have Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Prasidh Krishna and Nathan Coulter-Nile. Honestly, you don’t need anything else to win the championship. They have signed four foreign players in the likes of Daryl Mitchell, Rassie Van Der Dussen, James Neesham and Coulter Nile under five minutes and they are looking like a team to dominate the Indian T20 League this year.

Rajasthan Squad - Sanju Samson (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Riyan Parag, KC Cariappa, Navdeep Saini, Obed McCoy, Anunay Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel, Tejas Baroka, Kuldip Yadav, Shubham Garhwal, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie van der Dussen, Daryl Mitchell

Team Rating – 10/10

Bangalore has put up a decent squad and might not fight for the playoffs. Their decision of letting Padikkal and Chahal go will be a big fat boomerang for them for sure. They have signed some good foreign players but it is the Indian cricketers that matters. Virat Kohli’s form is going to be absolutely crucial for the team going forward. If he can win them games like he is known for, this side can do so much better. Faf Du Plessis is likely to lead the team after Kohli stepped down. The team signed Hasaranga for a lot of money and now the Sri Lankan should step up and perform well. He was part of the squad last year as well, but couldn’t make a mark. Harshal Patel and Mohammed Siraj will be leading the pace attack while spin looks a bit weak with Shahbaz Ahmad and Karn Sharma in the mix. Dinesh Karthik will make his return to Bangalore and he will look to make a comeback into the Indian team by having a good tournament.

Bangalore Squad - Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patel, Faf du Plessis, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik, Josh Hazlewood, Shahbaz Ahamad, 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

Team Rating – 8/10