Last year, Gujarat Titans won the tournament despite being a newbie but this time around, climbing to the top will not be easy. There will be a hard fight among teams to find their perfect eleven which can lead them to the title.
IPL 2022 wasn’t good for Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings as both finished at the bottom of the table. This year, things can change for them because their ace players are back in the game.
What is the IPL 2023 schedule and when will the league start?
It will start from 31st IPL with the first match being played at the grand Narendra Modi Stadium between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings.
Here is the full list of IPL 2023 schedule:
What are the new rules in IPL 2023?
IPL 2023 will be more exciting and matches will definitely go down to the wire because of some newly introduced rules. First and foremost a change comes in the toss procedure, captains will be entitled to decide what teams they want to go with after the toss.
New rules in IPL 2023 will be handy for the captains as they can evaluate what kind of players they need, depending on the result of the toss. Another interesting thing will be the inclusion of impact player.
Actually, this is gonna be a great move in uncanny situations for the teams. If a team has to chase 50 or 60 odd in the last 4-5 overs, they will definitely want a power hitter at the crease. Using the Impact Player rule, they can send in the batter they trust to do the job.
Same will be the case for the bowling team, the captain of the fielding side can choose his best bowler from the dugout to bowl a penultimate over if one of his bowlers is having a bad day.
Which Player Will Impress Most In This IPL Season?
Hard to pick a name because IPL teams have world class players as well as fantastic youth talent. There is a reward for good performance in IPL, as a batter, one can aim for the orange cap which is awarded to the high run scorer of the tournament. Similarly for bowlers, purple cap becomes an honour but again, there is a long list of contenders.
Orange Cap Race
Shubman Gill has been in good form in recent times, but in the IPL, there will be more competitors. The way Harry Brook has been batting in the last few months, he is the number one contender for the orange cap. By any means, if Sunrisers Hyderabad finishes up at the top, Brook will be number one in the race of orange cap.
Gill will enjoy batting in Narendra Modi Stadium where he got his first T20 century a few weeks ago, so he is in the race for the top too. Also, this can be a season for veterans, if Kohli finds his feet again, it will be hard to catch him by any means.
Orange Cap contenders: Shubman Gill, Harry Brook, Aiden Markram, Devon Conway, Suryakumar Yadav
Purple Cap Race
Usually if a team wins the tournament, you’ll find out that purple cup holder belongs to that team. That’s how important the role of bowlers is in the IPL. Yuzvendra Chalal won the purple cap last season, and the kind bowler he is, the cap can belong to him again.
However, this year we will see Jofra Archer playing for Mumbai Indians and nobody can write him off from the purple cap race. And who can forget Sam Curran who was the highest wicket taker in the T20 World Cup.
Another interesting bowler can be Nathan Ellis, his bowling style will definitely suit subcontinent conditions, bowling cutters and length deliveries, which are hard to pick from his hands because he can mix up the pace pretty well.
Purple Cap Race contenders: Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Nathan Ellis, Yuzvendra Chalal, Jofra Archer
Which Will Be Top Four Teams In The IPL 2023
The best thing about IPL is that any team can beat any team on a given day and that is what makes it so special. For a long time, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings dominated the league but last year was worse for them.
To finish in the top four, a team has to be at its ace game in all matches. Match winners also make a big difference and this time around, CSK and SRH are looking solid with international level match winners.
Other two teams can be Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians. Gujarat Giants had a title winning tournament last season but this season can be less entertaining for the team.
Chennai Super Kings
CSK is the first choice to finish in the top four because they know how to make a comeback. Having finished the last year at second bottom position, CSK will be looking forward to making a grand comeback as they often do.
Their team is most settled in terms of experience, talent and strategy. The left hand right hand combination will be part of their strategy to put pressure on the opposition. Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad at the top will be key to provide a solid start, then Ambati Raydu, Shivam Dube and Ben Stokes will take on the role of maintaining the momentum.
The best thing about CSK is they have incredible depth in their line-up. They will always have 7 batters and 6 bowlers in their team, as Jadeja and Dhoni will play the role of a finisher and Jadeja has been in brilliant form in recent times.
Their bowling, too, is world class with the likes of Maheesh Theekshana, Dwaine Pretorius, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, Sisanda Magala bowling on the slow pitch of Chepauk that will work to their advantage.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
After going through back to back difficult seasons, SRH are prepared to make a statement this season. To provide stability, Mayank Agrawal has been added to the team alongside Aiden Markram who is good nick as we saw him doing well against West Indies in the recent T20i series.
The team will definitely benefit from world class bowler Adil Rashid who has been added to the team to lead the bowling attack. SRH has shown its trust in all rounders once again and power hitting in the middle order.
With the likes of Glenn Phillips and Heinrich Klaasen batting in the middle order, SRH will never be out of the game. Last year, they experimented with Abhisek Sharma who was sent to open the innings, will they follow the same route! Hard to answer.
By the end of tournament, Sharma looked more settled but this tournament goes around fast so this year, SRH will like to play on definite terms.
Rajasthan Royals
A team that always does well at early stages of the tournament but somehow loses track as the run comes towards the end phase. To diversify the dependency in the bowling and batting department, English batter Joe Root and Aussie spinner Adam Zampa have been added to the team.
From the point of view of stability, that is a great move. Also, we can see the best of Sanju Samson this year as he is prepared to prove a point before the Men’s ODI World Cup 2023. Buttler, as usual, has been a phenomenal player for RR, and the power of Shimron Hetmeyer will strengthen the middle order of the team.
Trent Boult will lead the pace attack alongside Obed McCoy, and afterwards spinners will take over the game. Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Adam Zampa, Yuzvendra Chalal; RR definitely has plenty of options in the spinners department and as the proverb says “Spin to win”, RR will always go with spin dominated attack in IPL 2023.
Mumbai Indians
Another team full of match winners. Mumbai Indians have received some auspicious sign from their women’s team in WPL who won the inaugural season of the newly introduced tournament.
Can they do the same? Yes, definitely. They have all the arsenal to do so. Tim David, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma. MI couldn’t have asked for a more destructive middle order than this.
To back this attacking batting order, they have some high class bowling attack which will be led by Jofra Archer and Jasonn Behrendorff. Both are coming off wonderful previous match records. Behrendorff was so good during his BBL stint with Perth Scorchers while Jofra has been putting things on fire since he made a comeback from injury.
Who Will Win IPL 2023?
Time to make some predictions. Chennai Super Kings are looking strongest to win the title because they have attained the level of perfection in team making. However, there’s always an exception for surprise so every other team is as much as in the game as CSK.
CSK’s batting order may not be the most superior but it has the experience and substance to outperform the best of teams. Most importantly, they will be playing half of their matches at Chepauk Stadium where they hold a 70% winning average which is most in comparison to the other teams.
What are the chances of PBKS in IPL 2023?
Punjab Kings are no doubt a good team, but their combination doesn’t seem to be tournament winning material. They have already lost the service of Jonny Bairstow and went with the decision to leave Mayank Agrawal. Their bowling is good but it will be hard for them to gain any kind of momentum with the kind of batting order they have decided to go with.
What are the chances of Delhi Capitals in IPL 2023?
A team full of young power but they are without Rishabh Pant, a huge loss for the team. However, they still have one of the best teams with the likes of Mitchell Marsh, Rovman Powell, Rilee Rossouw, Phil Salt and David Warner.
They will surprise every other team. Their bowling attack is top class, led by Anrich Nortje and Khaleel Ahmed. On a serious note, a lot will depend on how Axar Patel performs for the team. He is vice captain of the side and has been in some good form in recent matches.
What are the chances of KKR in IPL 2023?
A decent team but once again, too much dependency on a few players. Shreyas Iyer will be a big loss as Nitish Rana has been given the responsibility to lead the side. It’ll be tough for him as captain when KKR has options like Southee to lead the side.
The power of Russell will be the most awaited thing for the team but their bowling looks too weak and in absence of Pat Cummins, it lacks the international express that other teams have got.
What are the chances of Lucknow SuperGiants in IPL 2023?
A team full of international stars, yet they hardly click together. In their early matches, they will be without the service of Quinton de Kock which will make a big difference to their team. Kl Rahul hasn’t been quite accurate with his captaincy as his batting order isn’t quite connecting.
Marcus Stoinis doesn’t get too much of a delivery so batting him down the order is a waste of his power when everyone knows he bats up in the order in BBL. Nicholas Pooran will be eyeing on to prove a point but how better he will fare on the slow pitch of Lucknow, is yet to be known.
What are the chances of Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2023?
RCB has always struggled with their bowling efforts and this time, things look no different. And batting, too, isn’t quite convincing. Maxwell hasn’t been in best form in T20s, after recovering from the injury, he has only played one ODI match.
With Fin Allen, the team will not get consistency and once again, the pressure will be on Faf Du Plessis to lead the team despite no stable partner. If Virat Kohli can set the mood then this team will look entirely different but if he doesn’t, things will not be new for RCB.
What are the chances of Gujarat Titans in IPL 2023?
First of all, they will be without David Miller in the initial phase where other teams will look to build momentum. GT heavily depends on middle and lower order so it will be interesting to see how some of the new names they have drafted will perform this season.
Bowling is their strong point but can Shami do well? Is Rashid Khan as threatening as he used to be? Hard to answer, experienced teams will get better of Gujarat Titans at some point.
IPL 2023 will be more exciting with all the new rules added and we will see some new players putting up on a show. Ben Stokes has been drafted by CSK, similarly RR will have Joe Root batting for their team.