Part 1 of this assessment on the relative strengths and weaknesses of the franchises involved in this year's IPL can be found here

This blog considers the remaining 4 contenders in the tournament.

Mumbai Indians (MI)

A terrible start to the defence of their title last season left Mumbai Indians with too much to do in the later stages and they ultimately missed out on the postseason playoffs.

MI did their biggest piece of business prior to the auction beginning by bringing in South African wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock from RCB. 2018 was a difficult tournament for De Kock and his star, in general, seems to have faded following his explosion onto the international scene a few years ago. With an already strong looking top order that includes Evan Lewis and Suryakumar Yadav as well as wicket-keeper Ishan Kishan it will be interesting to see where De Kock fits into the MI side.

Then there is the question of where captain and star batsman Rohit "the hitman" Sharma bats. Last year he floated around the order mainly at number 4 with limited success and it must be tempting for MI to get him in as early as possible so that he can go on to dominate an innings in the manner that he has done throughout his white ball career.

The signings that MI did make during the auction included highly experienced duo Lasith Malinga and Yuraj Singh. Malinga was at MI last year albeit in a non-playing capacity as a mentor to the fast bowlers but his return to fitness against England last Autumn convinced the powers that be that he could be an able back up bowler for the side. As for Yuraj, one of the most successful players in the history of IPL cricket, this very much represents a last chance saloon for one of cricket's cleanest ball strikers following a dismal season with Kings XI in 2018. I had suggested in my preview on MI's needs prior to the auction that an experienced player at number 5 might be what was required. Is there to be one last hoorah for Yuvi?

Strengths

  • A squad full of not just experience but experience of winning this tournament on multiple occasions 
  • No discernable weaknesses in the squad with a strong starting 11 and plenty of support should it be required 

Weaknesses

  • The fitness and availability of a few key players such as Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya could be crucial to their success
  • Mayank Markande had a strong season last year but there are not many options to replace him in the category of "mystery spinner" should he pick up an injury or otherwise lose form

Rajasthan Royals

A Jos Buttler inspired late charge saw Rajasthan Royals sneak into the later stages of last year's competition but with several of their stars unavailable for the knockout games their challenge for the title quickly fizzled out. RR's main priority then for this year's tournament was to find players who might be able to come in as back-up when the likes of Buttler, Stokes, Archer and the returning Steve Smith all go off to play for their countries in the World Cup warm-up matches.

In that respect, RR have done well to bring in Australian Ashton Turner who showed just what a good T20 player he is with a swashbuckling innings for his nation against India a couple of weeks ago. They have also added another Englishman to their ranks in batsman Liam Livingstone who looks unlikely to be part of England's squad for the tournament that begins in May.

I had suggested that fast-bowling would be an area that the Royals would need to strengthen and so it was as they brought in former India international Varon Aaron and young West Indian Oshane Thomas as well as re-signing left-armer Jaydev Unadkat for a lower fee having released him in the off-season.

Strengths

  • With the likes of Buttler, Stokes, Archer and Gowtham, the Royals have plenty of all-rounders with which to balance their team 
  • The return of Steve Smith from his ball-tampering ban gives the Royals an added boost 

Weaknesses

  • Having to accommodate captain Rahane who is not best suited to this format of the game cost the Royals in several matches last year
  • It'll be interesting to see how RR fit Ish Sodhi into the side given the restrictions on foreign players and some of the names mentioned above. Without him, they lack wicket-taking slow bowling options in the middle overs

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)

Any side that boasts having Virat Kohli in it is likely to come with added expectations but when you add the likes of AB De Villiers as well as whole host of other star names into the equation it's easy to see why many believe that RCB have been underachieving of late.

Quniton De Kock and Brendan McMullum paid the price for those failings last year and I had expected that RCB would be in the market for an opening batsman during the auction in order to fill at least 1 of the slots vacated by those 2. The fact that they didn't make such a signing is the clearest indication yet that Kohli plans to promote himself up the order to open the batting in 2019.

Henrick Klassen was also brought in to add to the wicket-keeping options that RCB have available while Shimron Hetmyer was rewarded for some good performances during the West Indies tour of India with a big contract. Powerful Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis was brought in from KXI and gives RCB some options in the lower order alongside the likes of Moeen Ali and Colin de Grandhomme.

RCB's weaknesses in recent years have revolved around their inability to restrict sides particularly in the middle overs and it was notable that they failed to sign any out and out bowlers during the auction with which to strengthen that part of the team.

Strengths

  • With the likes of Kohli and Devilliers in the side, anything is possible 
  • They have some strong all-rounder options with the foreign imports mentioned above being joined by Shivam Dube a signing from Mumbai Indians

Weaknesses

  • The team still looks top heavy in regards its batting options. RCB will not have problems putting runs on the board but can they defend them? 
  • Kohli has showed signs of improving as a captain in recent months but his anxiousness on the field is of little help in the helter-skelter world of T20 cricket  

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)

Last but certainly not least are Sunrisers Hyderabad, 2018's beaten finalists. Their success last year was built off the back of Kane Williamson's consistency with the bat and the double spin axis of Rashid Khan and Shakib Al-Hassan. All 3 return for SRH this year and they will be joined by Jonny Bairstow and Martin Guptill who have come in to make up for the loss of Shikar Dhawan who left for Delhi Capitals.

Back into the side after his part in the ball-tampering fiasco is David Warner, a man very much with a point to prove in what will be a huge 6 months of cricket for him with the IPL followed by the World Cup and The Ashes.

The only other piece of business that SRH did in the auction was to release injury prone keeper Saha and then resign him for a quarter of the price! While I accurately predicted the signing of Bairstow, it was a surprise to see SRH not looking to bolster their middle order with a player or 2 who can muscle the ball over the boundary in the final quarter of the innings.

Strengths

  • Their bowling attack is arguably the best in the competition and they consistently proved they are capable of restricting teams and defending any total 
  • Kane Williamson was not only the most consistent batsmen in last year's tournament but also one of its most competent captains having come in at the last minute to replace the suspended Warner 

Weaknesses

  • A lack of middle order power should the top order fail to make the runs 
  • Question marks over the suitability of new signing Guptill and Bairstow on the slower pitches of the sub-continent

What's your assessment of these 4 franchises?


Do you see a potential winner from the 4 squads above?