What will be the best playing XI for teams in IPL 14?
IPL 2021 predicted XI of all eight teams is placed here. With a brand new IPL season coming up soon, and big changes to the teams taking part, it is time to take a look at who we think will be in the probably staring X1’s for each team. This should show us how strong each team is, and if they are capable of competing at the top in an attempt to win the IPL crown in 2021. These combinations do not take into account availability issues due to international commitments and injuries.
Now that the dust has settled following another dramatic IPL draft and the schedule has been confirmed, we will look at each team to analyze what their starting lineups will look like. This analysis will be based on the overall squad strength and not player availability. This will give us a better look at how the teams match up for the season’s highly anticipated start. The best playing 14 of IPL 2021 teams are placed below.
Probable XI for Chennai Super Kings
1. Far du Plessis
2. Suresh Raina
3. Ambati Rayudu
4. Moeen Ali
5. MS Dhoni (C)
6. Robin Uthappa
7. Ravindra Jadeja
8. Josh Hazlewood
9. M. Reddy
10. K. Gowtham
11. Lungi Ngidi
Chennai has tried to refresh their team to avoid a repeat of last season, and while I like the addition of Moeen Ali, I still feel they are lacking energy and could have similar struggles this season because of it. I don’t see many consistent performers in the deep who will stop those fours from going over the rope or cut out those easy ones and twos in the infield.
Probable XI for Rajasthan Royals
1. Sanju Samson (C)
2. Manan Vohra
3. Jos Buttler
4. Anuj Rawat
5. Chris Morris
6. Ben Stokes
7. Shreyas Gopal
8. Akash Singh
9. Kuldip Yadav
10. Jayden Unadkat
11. Jofra Archer
The Royals have a good team, especially their middle order, which now boasts Chris Morris. They also have David Miller, who can add to their ever-growing list of all-rounders. If their ploy of playing a team of all-rounders doesn’t work, they can add Liam Livingstone up top and either Andrew Tye or M. Rahman to their bowling attack. My fear for the Royals is that they don’t look like a complete team, they look like a bunch of players thrown together, and many players will play out of position or order, especially when batting.
Probable XI for Royal Challengers Bangalore
1. Virat Kohli (C)
2. Devdutt Padikkal
3. AB de Villiers
4. Sachin Baby
5. Glenn Maxwell
6. Pagan Deshpande
7. Washington Sundar
8. Kane Richardson
9. Yuzvendra Chahal
10. Kyle Jamieson
11. Shahbaz Ahmed
RCB looks like a complete team to me, they all have derived roles, and they have a good mixture of youth and experience. They also have Daniel Christian and Adam Zampa to back up this well-rounded lineup. They will undoubtedly be looking to at least ready the semi-finals.
Probable XI for Kolkata Knight Riders
1. Shubman Gill
2. Rahul Tripathi
3. Dinesh Karthik
4. Eoin Morgan (C)
5. Sunil Narine
6. Shakib Al Hasan
7. Pawan Negi
8. Pat Cummins
9. Kuldeep Yadav
10. Sandeep Warrior
11. Harbhajan Singh
When you look at the Knight Riders line up, one thing stands out, and that is firepower. They have it in abundance throughout the squad, even though players not in this lineup like Andre Russell and Ben Cutting. If Eoin Morgan can bring this group of players together, they have a good chance of making the playoffs. I fear their bowling unit may let them down.
Probable XI for Kings XI Punjab
1. KL Rahul (C)
2. Chris Gayle
3. Mayank Agarwal
4. Nicholas Pooran
5. Deepak Hooda
6. Moses Henriques
8. Jhye Richardson
9. Mohammad Shami
10. Arshdeep Singh
11. Ravi Bishnoi
The newly named Punjab Kings have come out of the gate swinging with the signing of Jhye Richardson and Moises Henriques. They also have the number one T20 batsman right now, Dawid Malan, to call upon. They will look for a playoff berth this season.
Probable XI for Delhi Daredevils
1. Shreyas Iyer (C)
2. Shikhar Dhawan
3. Steve Smith
4. Rishabh Pant
5. Ajinkya Rahane
6. Marcus Stoinis
7. R. Ashwin
8. Chris Woakes
9. Amit Mishra
10. Ishant Sharma
11. Kagiso Rabada
The Capitals look extremely well rounded this year and even have the likes of Sam Billings and Tom Curran to add to their ranks if they so wish. They will be up there challenging for honours this season.
Probable XI for Mumbai Indians
1. Robot Sharma (C)
2. Q De Kock
3. Chris Lynn
4. Saurabh Tiwary
5. Hardik Pandya
6. James Neesham
7. Kieron Pollard
8. Anukul Roy
9. Jasprit Bumrah
10. Piyush Chawla
11. Dhawal Kulkarni
The Indians will be strong again this year, and the signing of New Zealand all-rounder James Neesham is a stroke of genius. If things aren’t working out for them, they could easily rest someone like Pollard and bring in either Boult, Milne, or Coulter-Nile to booster their bowling attack.
Probable XI for Surnrisers Hyderabad
1. David Warner (C)
2. S. Goswami
3. Manish Pandey
4. Jonny Bairstow
5. W. Saha
6. Mohammad Nabi
7. Rashid Khan
8. B. Kumar
9. Sandeep Sharma
10. Siddarth Kaul
11. Shahbaz Nadeem
The Sunrisers will look to build on their cohesion from last year and go that bit further and try to make this year’s final. They can rotate and bring in Kane Williamson, Mitchell Marsh, Jason Holder, or M. Ur-Rahman to keep things fresh.