The Indian Premier League – a tale of explosive, fast paced cricketing action. The IPL is known worldwide for its cricketing passion and entertainment. In its 17 years of history, no one has experienced a more electrifying season than last year. With the auction coming to an end, everyone is excited for the 2025 season. The teams enhanced their squads, adding more talent to their rosters. While it is surely a hard task to determine the winner, here are 5 teams which based on their rosters are frontrunners for the trophy this year.
1. Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
CSK retained their experienced players, including MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Additionally, they have acquired the services of Ravichandran Ashwin and Rahul Tripathi, bringing them into the squad. With new additions like Noor Ahmed and Devon Convoy, along with returning players like Rachin Ravindran and Sam Curran, CSK’s playing 11 is to watch out for. CSK’s ability to perform under pressure and their depth of experience make them a formidable team. Their updated batting line-up and disciplined bowling attack give them an edge to be the leading contender for the trophy.
While the 5 time champions boast of younger talents, they heavily depend on aging players. Injuries over the course of the season could be a concern over a fast paced tournament. Their consistent performances in past seasons with a well-balanced squad, remains intact. But in the IPL, you never know!
Possible 12 (including impact player):
- Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt)
- Devon Conway/Rachin Ravindra ✈️
- Rahul Tripathi
- Shivam Dube
- Sam Curran ✈️
- Vijay Shankar
- Ravindra Jadeja
- MS Dhoni (wk)
- R Ashwin
- Noor Ahmad/Nathan Ellis ✈️
- Khaleel Ahmed/Gurjapneet Singh
- Matheesha Pathirana ✈️
2. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
The runners up of last year’s edition, SRH looked to pack a dangerous team in the auction. They looked very intimidating, with their mammoth scores destroying records in the IPL. Having retained their batting stars Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen, they have parted ways with the bowling unit of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, T. Natarajan and Umran Malik. Despite the departures SRH seek experience in their bowling attack, adding Mohammed Shami, Adam Zampa and Rahul Chahar to their squad. With Pat Cummins leading the team, they aim to pull off their campaign and end up with their second title in the league.
SRH have a fierce top five and a bowling attack with plenty of talent, but the link between those two parts of their line-up often comes off as rather unseasoned. Despite reaching the finals last year, their top order crumbled under pressure. The bowlers needed to pull a miracle, but it seemed they were helpless. If their current squad could overcome this obstacle, SRH looks like they could do what they couldn’t the last time.
Possible 12 (including impact player):
- Travis Head ✈️
- Abhishek Sharma
- Ishan Kishan (wk)
- Nitish Reddy
- Heinrich Klaasen ✈️
- Aniket Verma
- Abhinav Manohar
- Pat Cummins (c) ✈️
- Harshal Patel
- Rahul Chahar
- Mohammed Shami
- Adam Zampa ✈️
3. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
The reigning champions KKR, retained 6 players from their title winning squad and have brought back Venkatesh Iyer and Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the auction. Having parted with stars like Shreyas Iyer, Phil Salt and Mitchell Starc, KKR looked to improve their batting order. The addition of Quinton de Kock, Angkrish Raghuvanshi along with bowlers like Spencer Johnson, Anrich Nortje and Umran Malik make sure they have a balanced squad. They have managed to retain their strong spin attack, which can be a game-changer in turning conditions.
Despite winning last season, their performances in previous seasons raises questions about their ability to perform consistently. The addition of new players too, does not seem like an upgrade over the last season. Their bids for Ajinkya Rahane and Manish Pandey were also surprising, as their usual batting style is at odds with KKR’s explosive batting from last season. Let’s see how this season turns out for them!
- Sunil Narine ✈️
- Quinton de Kock/Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk) ✈️
- Angkrish Raghuvanshi/Ajinkya Rahane
- Venkatesh Iyer (c)
- Rinku Singh
- Andre Russell ✈️
- Ramandeep Singh
- Harshit Rana
- Varun Chakravarthy
- Vaibhav Arora
- Anrich Nortje/Spencer Johnson ✈️
- Manish Pandey
4. Rajasthan Royals (RR)
The team touted to lift the trophy last year, RR has a strong top order with a mix of aggression and stability. They retained 5 batsmen but only one bowler, thus going into the auction to boost their bowling unit. 4 out of their 5 costliest buys in the auction are bowlers, with the likes of Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande, Wanindu Hasaranga and Mahesh Theekshana. This year, they look set to go guns blazing on both the ends, covering their bowling worries.
RR built a young and dynamic squad retaining Yashaswi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel and pairing them with emerging talents like Vaibhav Suryavanshi. The presence of game-changers like Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer makes them a dangerous side capable of dominating any team. Their bowling lineup, despite having some key names, is yet to be tested, as Archer and Hasaranga have been injury prone.
Possible 12 (including impact player):
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- Sanju Samson (c/wk)
- Nitish Rana
- Riyan Parag
- Dhruv Jurel
- Shimron Hetmyer ✈️
- Wanindu Hasaranga ✈️
- Shubham Dubey/Akash Madhwal
- Jofra Archer ✈️
- Maheesh Theekshana ✈️
- Sandeep Sharma
- Tushar Deshpande
5. Punjab Kings (PBKS)
Having finished 8th on the table last year, PBKS went all in for this year’s mega auction. Having retained only 2 players from last year’s squad, PBKS spent the most in the auction – 12.6 Million Dollars. Acquiring the services of Shreyas Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Marcus Stoinis and Marco Jansen, the PBKS squad looks dramatically different from last year. They have brought back Arshdeep Singh and Glenn Maxwell, adding power and depth to their middle order and bowling attack.
With Ricky Ponting taking charge as the coach this season, PBKS look like a strong contender for the trophy. With Shreyas Iyer – last season champions’ captain – as their new captain, their squad is well packed with talent. They don’t just look to overturn their woes from the last season, but they look to take down any opponent this year.
Possible 12 (including impact player):
- Josh Inglis (wk) ✈️
- Prabhsimran Singh
- Marcus Stoinis ✈️
- Shreyas Iyer (c)
- Glenn Maxwell ✈️
- Nehal Wadhera
- Shashank Singh
- Marco Jansen ✈️
- Harpreet Brar
- Yash Thakur/Kuldeep Sen/Vijaykumar Vyshak
- Arshdeep Singh
- Yuzvendra Chahal
Final Thoughts
All of these mentioned teams have a strong case to be considered a top contender for the IPL 2025 title. While CSK and KKR boast experience and legacy, teams like PBKS and SRH have the firepower to cause upsets. But as always, the IPL is always full of surprises, and the title race is expected to go down to the wire. Even teams which are not mentioned in the list are definitely not out of the race, as this year’s auction had teams battle out for players. But as far as squad depths go, these teams are likely to stay ahead of the curve. Follow Sofascore for all the live action and updates this 2025 IPL season.