IPL 2023: A look at franchises which have backed their core

IPL 2023: A look at IPL teams which have backed their core squad ahead of IPL 2023 mini-auction set to take place on December 23 in Kochi.

Gujarat Titans found a great captain in Hardik Pandya (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

With the end of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, the whole excitement and focus has shifted towards the preparation for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 in its 16th season. All the 10 teams have already provided the list of their retained players where they released a few names who don’t marry with their plans and tactics for the upcoming season.

Most of these franchises, with the exception of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have more or less retained their core squads. The three aforementioned franchises have indicated a change in their philosophy by releasing a number of players, and they may have a lot of thinking to do before getting down to the drawing board during the IPL 2023 mini-auction.

Let’s take a look at those teams which have retained their core players and can look to add a few players in the mini-auction to be fully prepared for the next season.

CSK retained Ravindra Jadeja among all the rumours (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Chennai Super Kings and sticking to the tried and tested path

One of the main ideas behind the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) being a prolific unit in the history of the IPL has been their belief in backing their players and without a doubt, they have looked to go with the same mantra for the upcoming season too. With the upcoming 2023 season expected to be the last season for ‘Thala’ MS Dhoni, the yellow brigade has almost retained all their core players.

With the next season going to be played in the home and away format, the spin options available at their disposal in the form of Maheesh Theekshana, Mitchell Santner, Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja are going to be really dangerous playing at Chepauk. On a positive note, the perceivably sour relation between Jadeja and the CSK management has been sorted out too.

But the big news was their release of Dwayne Bravo who has served them for more than 10 years. Chris Jordan was also released by the franchise. Robin Uthappa who took retirement earlier this year was also released, besides Adam Milne and Narayan Jagadeesan. One of the main issues for CSK in the last season was their poor bowling in the death overs, and they may look for someone like Sam Curran to serve them well in that phase of the game.

Current Squad: MS Dhoni (Captain), Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Chowdhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Deepak Chahar, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana

Read More: IPL 2023 Retentions: SRH release Williamson, CSK let go of Bravo while most franchises retain core

Kieron Pollard to join Mumbai Indians as batting coach in IPL 2023 (Images: ©BCCI/IPL)

Leaving Pollard out, Mumbai Indians cover core

The most successful franchise of the IPL history with 5 trophies, Mumbai Indians (MI), just like in the last few seasons, have decided to back their core players even though things didn’t seem to go according to their plans in IPL 2022.

The most powerful section of the side seems to be the mixture of youth and experience in the middle order. They have Tilak Varma, who was in red hot form scoring 297 runs in seven innings in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2022, besides whom they have Tim David and Tristan Stubbs who too can be really dangerous in the death overs. Not to mention, Suryakumar Yadav who is turning almost everything into gold at the moment.

Mumbai have released a lot of fast bowlers and with Kieron Pollard taking retirement from the IPL, they may look for an overseas fast bowling all-rounder like Ben Stokes or Cameron Green besides one India or foreign pacer who could be used as the back-up option.

Current Squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Tim David, Ramandeep Singh, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Jofra Archer, Jasprit Bumrah, Arjun Tendulkar, Arshad Khan, Kumar Kartikeya, Hrithik Shokeen, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal

Read More: T20 WC 2022, SF 2, IND v ENG: India succumb to humiliating 10-wicket defeat

Virat Kohli scored 341 runs from 16 matches in IPL 2022 (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Royal Challengers Bangalore and a new thought process of backing their players

Even though on paper, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) narrow down to great combinations in all IPL seasons, their empty IPL cabinet doesn’t speak highly as far as their records go. But one of the main reasons for this has been their poor showing in backing their players which doesn’t glue the players together as a power-packed unit for a longer period of time.

But unlike all the past seasons, RCB have decided to put faith on their players especially after a successful last season where they finished in qualifier 2. Another team full of experience, they have names with proven track records and their side looks settled too for the next season.

The only thing they could think of adding in their side will be a foreign pacer who could partner with Josh Hazlewood and if they need a different dimension to their game, then a left-handed pacer won’t be a bad idea.

Current Squad: Faf du Plessis (Captain), Virat Kohli, Suyash Prabhudessai, Rajat Patidar, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat, Finn Allen, Glenn Maxwell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shahbaz Ahmed, Harshal Patel, David Willey, Karn Sharma, Mahipal Lomror, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood, Siddarth Kaul, Akash Deep

Read More: IPL 2023: RCB trade Behrendorff to MI with mini-auction scheduled on December 23 in Kochi

Kuldeep Yadav bowled superbly for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2022 (Image: ©BCCI/IPL)

Delhi Capitals select a stable track

Just like in the last season of IPL, Delhi Capitals (DC) under the leadership of Rishabh Pant have backed their core players which means they will mostly depend on the attacking batters, as a line-up of Pant, David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Sarfaraz Khan and Rovman Powell has all the capabilities to take on any bowling attack in the world.

Their bowling attack is all about sheer pace and bounce thanks to the South Africa quicks Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje, thrown in with the mix of slower balls and cutters expected from left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman. The spin department too will be led by Kuldeep Yadav.

But with the exclusion of KS Bharat and Tim Seifert, they will search for a back-up keeper besides searching for an Indian fast bowling all-rounder after trading Shardul Thakur with KKR.

Current Squad: Rishabh Pant (C), David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Ripal Patel, Rovman Powell, Sarfaraz Khan, Yash Dhull, Mitchell Marsh, Lalit Yadav, Axar Patel, Anrich Nortje, Chetan Sakariya, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Khaleel Ahmed, Lungi Ngidi, Mustafizur Rahman, Aman Khan, Kuldeep Yadav, Praveen Dubey, Vicky Ostwal

Read More: SMAT 2022-23: IPL experience great boost for youngsters in domestic T20 tournament

Gujarat Titans lift IPL 2022 Trophy in their maiden tournament (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Defending Champions Gujarat Titans don’t experiment much

The defending champions of the IPL, Gujarat Titans (GT) under the leadership of Hardik Pandya in their first season were excellent in all the departments of the game. Without any surprise, they have decided to retain most of their players from the last season besides releasing just a few players.

The big name among the releases was England’s dashing opener Jason Roy, who was dropped from the national squad before the recently concluded ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022. However, their decision to give away speedster Lockie Ferguson to Kolkata Knight Riders has raised a few questions.

They don’t need to break their winning combination but they may look for a few vital players in the auction; even though, they can have a silent auction!

Current Squad: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudharsan, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav, R Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad

Read More: IPL 2022, Final, GT vs RR, Top Performances: Pandya's 3-17 & 34 hands GT maiden silverware

Jos Buttler was the Orange Cap holder in IPL 2022 (Images ©BCCI_IPL)

Runners-up Rajasthan Royals exercise caution

Just like the other five teams, IPL 2022 runners-up Rajasthan Royals (RR) have decided to back most of their players from the last season and the decision hasn’t surprised anyone at all. They have a great mixture of both youth and experience and undoubtedly, if they repeat their same performance, then they can expect another successful season.

Looking at the whole squad, they didn’t seem to have any holes in the side; but there is always a scope of improvement and in that case, they can look to add someone like Ben Stokes or Cameron Green or Sam Curran to fill the vacancy created by James Neesham or Daryl Mitchell.

Current Squad: Sanju Samson (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Jos Buttler, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Prasidh Krishna, Trent Boult, Obed McCoy, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Sen, Kuldip Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, KC Cariappa

Read More: IPL 2022, Records: Rahul-de Kock 210* stand for LSG against KKR first 200+ stand in IPL History

KL Rahul was the lead run-scorer for LSG in IPL 2022 (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Consistent Lucknow expect another balanced season

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) look to be one of the balanced sides for the upcoming IPL 2023 given they have backed most of their core players; they have kept all of their pace bowling options along with the batters.

One things which is vital in the shortest format of the game is experience which will be really valuable in crunch situations. The Super Giants released Jason Holder and Manish Pandey from the side and they may too look to add someone like Curran or Green, besides looking for an expressive pacer in the team to get stronger.

Current Squad: KL Rahul (Captain), Aayush Badoni, Karan Sharma, Manan Vohra, Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Krishnappa Gowtham, Deepak Hooda, Kyle Mayers, Krunal Pandya, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Mark Wood, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi

The mini-auction for the 16th season of the IPL is set to be organised on December 23 in Kochi.

Read More: IPL 2022, LSG vs KKR, Top Performances: QdK's 140* takes LSG into Playoffs; KKR eliminated